Includes bibliographical references and index.

Climate change: the uncertainties, the certainties, and what they imply about action / Thomas C. Schelling -- Global climate change: a challenge to policy / Kenneth J. Arrow -- A new agenda for global warming / Joseph E. Stiglitz -- A meaningful second commitment period for the Kyoto protocol / Shelia M. Olmstead and Robert N. Stavins -- Divergent views on the coming dollar crisis / J. Bradford DeLong -- U.S. offshoring: small steps to make it win-win / Diana Farrell -- Advance market commitments: how to stimulate investment in vaccines for neglected diseases / Owen Barder, Michael Kremer, and Heidi Williams -- Should we still support untrammeled international capital mobility? Or are capital controls less evil than we once believed? / J. Bradford DeLong -- The economic cost of the Iraq war / Scott Wallsten -- The high cost of the Iraq war / Joseph E. Stiglitz -- Sense and nonsense about federal deficits and debt / Michael J. Boskin -- Government deficits and the deindustrialization of America / Ronald I. McKinnon -- Confusions about social security / Paul Krugman -- The many definitions of social security privatization / Don Fullerton and Michael Geruso -- The virtues of personal accounts for social security / Edward P. Lazear -- Could social security go broke? / Barbara R. Bergmann -- A broader perspective on the tax reform debate / Michael J. Boskin -- Tax reform: time for a plan C? / Michael J. Graetz -- Taxes on investment income remain too high and lead to multiple distortions / Martin Feldstein -- Progressive consumption taxation as a remedy for the U.S. savings shortfall / Robert H. Frank -- Was welfare reform successful? / Rebecca M. Blank -- Cutting the safety net one strand at a time / Janet Currie -- The choose-your-charity tax: a way to incentivize greater giving / Aaron S. Edlin -- Should the government rebuild New Orleans or just give residents checks? / Edward L. Glaeser -- Does college still pay? / Lisa Barrow and Cecilia Elena Rouse -- How to deal with terrorism / Bruno S. Frey -- The economics of capital punishment / Richard A. Posner -- On the economics of capital punishment / Gary S. Becker -- The death penalty: no evidence for deterrence / John Donohue and Justin J. Wolfers -- Reply to Donohue and Wolfers on the death penalty and deterrence / Paul H. Rubin -- Letter: a reply to Rubin the death penalty / John Donohue and Justin J. Wolfers -- Reply: the death penalty once more / Paul H. Rubin -- Long-term perspectives on the current boom in home prices / Robert J. Shiller -- The menace of an unchecked housing bubble / Dean Baker -- What to do about Fannie and Freddie? / Edward L. Glaeser and Dwight M. Jaffee.

From the Publisher: In this valuable resource, more than thirty of the world's top economists offer innovative policy ideas and insightful commentary on our most pressing economic issues, such as global warming, the global economy, government spending, Social Security, tax reform, real estate, and political and social policy, including an extensive look at the economics of capital punishment, welfare reform, and the recent presidential elections. Contributors are Nobel Prize winners, former presidential advisers, well-respected columnists, academics, and practitioners from across the political spectrum. Joseph E. Stiglitz takes a hard look at the high cost of the Iraq War; Nobel Laureates Kenneth Arrow, Thomas Schelling, and Stiglitz provide insight and advice on global warming; Paul Krugman demystifies Social Security; Bradford DeLong presents divergent views on the coming dollar crisis; Diana Farrell reconsiders the impact of U.S. offshoring; Michael J. Boskin distinguishes what is "sense" and what is "nonsense" in discussions of federal deficits and debt; and Ronald I. McKinnon points out the consequences of the deindustrialization of America. Additional essays question whether welfare reform was successful and explore the economic consequences of global warming and the rebuilding of New Orleans. They describe how a simple switch in auto insurance policy could benefit the environment; unravel the dangers of an unchecked housing bubble; and investigate the mishandling of the lending institutions Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Balancing empirical data with economic theory, The Economists' Voice proves that the unique perspective of the economist is a vital one for understanding today's world.