Media Inquiries: Véronique Rodman
vrodman@aei.org; 202.862.4870

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 1, 2008

The past few weeks have changed the structure of the U.S. financial system, with the federal government intervening in unprecedented ways and proposing a bailout plan that gives the U.S. Treasury unparalleled powers. As Washington struggles to reach an agreement, and Wall Street awaits its future, AEI scholars offer insights into what is needed to protect the financial system.
The following AEI scholars are available to discuss:

• the financial crisis and the factors that have led to the current situation; 
• how these financial sector problems will influence the broader economy;
• the response from the government and its implications.

Vincent R. Reinhart
Resident Scholar

Research areas: the U.S. economy; the Federal Reserve; world financial markets; the global economic outlook

Contact: vincent.reinhart@aei.org; please copy his assistant, Adam Paul, at adam.paul@aei.org (or call 202.862.5852)

A former director of the Federal Reserve Board's Division of Monetary Affairs, Reinhart has spent more than two decades working on domestic and international aspects of U.S. monetary policy. He held a number of senior positions in the Divisions of Monetary Affairs and International Finance and served for the last six years of his Federal Reserve career as secretary and economist of the Federal Open Market Committee.

Peter J. Wallison
Arthur F. Burns Fellow in Financial Policy Studies

Research areas: government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; Wall Street regulations; the U.S. Treasury Department; the bailout plan; credit default swaps; financial services and financial regulation

Contact: pwallison@aei.org; please copy his assistant, Karen Dubas, at karen.dubas@aei.org (or call 202.419.5212)

Wallison is a regular contributor to AEI's monthly Financial Services Outlook. A former general counsel of the U.S. Treasury Department, he has been warning for years about the dangers that GSEs pose to taxpayers. Wallison had a significant role in the development of the Reagan administration's proposals for the deregulation of the financial services industry. He was also general counsel of the Depository Institutions Deregulation Committee and later served as White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan.

Alex J. Pollock
Resident Fellow

Research areas: banking; government-sponsored enterprises, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; historical patterns of financial crises; retirement finance; housing finance; corporate governance; accounting standards; the Sarbanes-Oxley Act

Contact: 202.862.7190; please email his assistant, Karen Dubas, at karen.dubas@aei.org (or call 202.419.5212)

Pollock is a contributor to AEI's monthly Financial Services Outlook. He spent thirty-five years in banking, including twelve years as president and chief executive officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago. In 2007, Pollock developed a one-page mortgage disclosure proposal to help borrowers understand their mortgage obligations.

Charles W. Calomiris
Visiting Scholar

Research areas: managing financial crises; banking regulation; corporate finance; housing finance; emerging financial markets; monetary economics; financial services

Contact: cc374@columbia.edu

Calomiris is codirector of AEI's Financial Deregulation Project. Concurrently, he is Henry Kaufman Professor of Financial Institutions at Columbia Business School. He is also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Adam Lerrick
Visiting Scholar

Research areas: international capital markets, with a focus on hedge funds; international financial crises; sovereign debt restructuring; economic development

Contact: alerrick@aei.org; please copy his assistant, Amy Roden, at amy.roden@aei.org (or call 202.862.5912)

A professor of economics at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, Lerrick was one of the key architects and negotiators of the $100 billion Argentine debt restructuring. As head of product development for the international capital markets at Salomon Brothers and then at Credit Suisse First Boston, Lerrick found solutions to the large-scale financing needs of major governments and multilateral borrowers. He has designed and executed pioneering debt instruments in international capital markets for many foreign governments.

Lerrick served as an adviser on international economic policy to both the Joint Economic Committee (2001-2007) and the House Majority Leader (2001-2003) of the U.S. Congress. He was also a senior adviser to the chairman of the congressionally mandated International Financial Institution Advisory Commission, otherwise known as the Meltzer Commission.

John H. Makin
Visiting Scholar

Research areas: the U.S. economy; the bailout plan; international finance; financial markets

Contact: jmakin@aei.org; please copy his assistant, Denise Linden, at dlinden@caxton.com

Makin studies and writes about the U.S. economy (including monetary policy, tax, and budget issues) and is the author of AEI's monthly Economic Outlook. A former consultant to the U.S. Treasury, the Congressional Budget Office, and the International Monetary Fund, he also specializes in international finance and financial markets (stocks; bonds; and currencies, including the Euro and the U.S. dollar).

Kevin A. Hassett
Senior Fellow and Director of Economic Policy Studies

Research areas: the U.S. economy; tax policy; the stock market; investments

Contact: khassett@aei.org; please copy his assistant, Alex Wein, at alex.wein@aei.org (or call 202.862.5883)

Hassett was previously a senior economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, as well as a policy consultant to the U.S. Treasury Department. He has been an associate professor of economics and finance at Columbia Business School and currently serves as a senior economic adviser to the McCain 2008 presidential campaign.

Desmond Lachman
Resident Fellow

Research areas: the U.S. economy; the bailout plan; the U.S housing market; the U.S. dollar; exchange rates

Contact: dlachman@aei.org; please copy his assistant, Dharana Rijal, at dharana.rijal@aei.org (or call 202.862.5906)

Lachman previously held the position of managing director and chief emerging market economic strategist at Salomon Smith Barney. He previously served as deputy director in the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Policy and Review Department and was active in staff formulation of IMF policies toward emerging markets.

Lawrence B. Lindsey
Visiting Scholar

Research areas: the U.S. economy; the bailout plan

Contact: llindsey@aei.org; please copy his assistant, Karolin Junnila, at karolin@thelindseygroup.com

A former director of the National Economic Council and former governor of the Federal Reserve System, Lindsey focuses on fiscal and monetary policy.

Allan H. Meltzer
Visiting Scholar

Research areas: the U.S. economy; the bailout plan; the Federal Reserve; financial services; monetary history and current policy

Contact: ameltzer@aei.org

Meltzer was chairman of the International Financial Institution Advisory Commission, which issued its final report to Congress in March 2000. He is also a professor of political economy and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University and the author of A History of the Federal Reserve, Volume I: 1913-1951 (University of Chicago Press, 2002), the second volume of which is due out in 2009. Meltzer studies financial services, as well as monetary history and policy.