Authors

William Gale

Arjay and Frances Miller Chair in Federal Economic Policy in the Economic Studies Program

Brookings Institution

WILLIAM G. GALE is the Arjay and Frances Miller Chair in Federal Economic Policy in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution. His research focuses on tax policy, fiscal policy, pensions and saving behavior. He is co-director of the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute. He is also director of the Retirement Security Project. From 2006 to 2009, he served as vice president of Brookings Institution and director of the Economic Studies Program. Gale is the author of Fiscal Therapy: Curing America’s Debt Addiction and Investing in the Future (Oxford University Press, 2019). He earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University and an A.B. from Duke University and attended the London School of Economics as an undergraduate.

Publications

Fiscal Policy With High Debt and Low Interest Rates

Gale argues that although historically low interest rates reduce the cost of government borrowing, they are not­ a "get out of jail free card." Rising debt will slowly but surely make it harder to grow the economy, boost living standards, respond to wars or recessions, address social needs, and maintain the nation’s role as a global leader.