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Joseph White, Ph.D. – Political Science Department Chair, Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Director of the Center for Policy Studies |
| Friday January 18, 2013 12:30-1:30 p.m. Dampeer Room Kelvin Smith Library Case Western Reserve University Dear Colleagues: If only the Republicans deserved all the blame… It would be so simple to say that we have continual showdowns about “fiscal cliffs,” “debt ceilings” and the like because an extremist party can shut down the Senate and controls the House If only “politicians” (or the public) deserved all the blame… It would be so simple to say that the U.S. has very large budget deficits because politicians don’t have the courage to “do the right thing” and make “tough choices” to guarantee our “fiscal future” for “our grandchildren.” Actually it is simple to say those things, but also simplistic. The first is partly false and the second mostly false. At least, that’s my view. Budget politics was my major field from the time I entered graduate school in 1980 until I began working more on health politics in the mid-1990s. It is still a large part of my analytic work. So I will try to provide some useful or provocative information and analysis about budget policy, budget politics, and how the notion of “responsible budgeting” has been distorted to a point where it encourages irresponsible politics and policy. All best regards, About Our Guest… Professor Joe White came to Case in 2000 and became Department Chair in 2003. He previously was Associate Professor of Health Systems Management in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine at Tulane University, and before that was first Research Associate and then Senior Fellow in the Governmental Studies Program of the Brookings Institution. He received his A.B. in Political Science from the University of Chicago and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. White’s research focuses on the U.S. federal budget, the U.S. health care system, Social Security, and comparing health care systems in rich democracies. His most recent work includes analyses of the cost control provisions and politics of the U.S. health care reform; of budgeting by both Presidents Bush and Obama; and of the role of experts in health policy debate. Parking Possibilities We regret that there is no convenient free parking, especially with the current construction on Bellflower. The closest lot is the Severance garage, which can be entered from East Boulevard. One can avoid going outside the garage by using an entry door to the library that is just northeast of the main parking lot entrance from East Boulevard. It leads to an elevator which goes to the library entrance. You can also go up the stairway or elevator labeled “Thwing Center,” from which it is a short walk to the library. Another possibility is the parking lot of the Church of the Covenant on Euclid, which can be entered from the north side of Euclid Ave, opposite Cornell Road. Visitors would walk west on Euclid, past the Thwing Center, and then follow the walkway to the library entrance. Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers: January 25 Learning from “Mad Cows”. Professor Pierluigi Gambetti, Director, National Prion Disease Pathology Surveillance Center February 1: A (Really) New Middle East? Pete W. Moore, Associate Professor of Political Science February 8: Casting and Counting Votes in Cuyahoga County. Steven H. Izen, Professor of Mathematics, and Kenneth F. Ledford, Associate Professor of History and Law February 15: Israeli Politics. Dr. Guy Ben-Porat, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Administration, Ben Gurion University of the Negev February 22: The Widening Party Gap in Electing Women to Congress. With Karen Beckwith, Flora Stone Mather Professor of Political Science March 1: University Circle Update. Steven Litt, The Plain Dealer March 8: Perspectives on Genetically-Modified Food. Chris Cullis, Professor and Chair, Department of Biology and Mary Holmes, co-founder of the North Union (Shaker Square) Farmers Market March 15: Spring Break – No Discussion March 22: Shale Gas: Opportunities and Challenges. David Zeng, Frank H. Neff Professor and Chair, Department of Civil Engineering March 29: International Development Assistance in Public Health. Bill Goldman, retired foreign service officer with USAID April 5: Military Ethics and Dehumanizing the Enemy. With Anthony Jack, Assistant Professor of Cognitive Science, Philosophy, and Psychology and Shannon French, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Inamori Professor of Ethics. April 12: The New Cuyahoga County Government: Perspective from the Council. Julian Rogers, Councillor for District 10 April 19: Mass Murder for the Media: The Breivik Case in Norway. Mark Turner, Institute Professor and Professor of Cognitive Science April 26: Advocacy for Children, Who Don’t Vote. Doug Imig, Professor of Political Science, University of Memphis |
