Linda J. Bilmes

Linda J. Bilmes, a Lecturer in Public Policy, has taught budgeting and public finance at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University since January 2002. 

Profiles
According to her Kennedy School of Government profile, Linda J. Bilmes "served as Chief Financial Officer and as Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget at the U.S. Department of Commerce, from 1999-2001. Previously she was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce from 1997-98. She was responsible for a budget of $9 billion, for financial management, and for administration of 45,000 employees. Previously, she spent 10 years with the Boston Consulting Group, where she focused on industrial finance and public sector industrial policies. Much of her work was in Eastern Europe and Russia, assisting in the privatization process. Earlier in her career, Bilmes worked as a political campaign consultant for candidates in the United States and Latin America. She writes and broadcasts regularly on financial and budget issues in the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, The Atlantic and other publications. In 1998 she co-authored Gebt uns das Risiko Zuruck (Give Us Back the Risk), a best seller in Germany. Her current research topics include the cost of the Iraq war, federal workforce reform, and public pension liabilities. Her forthcoming book (The People Factor, Brookings) is on civil service reform. Bilmes holds a BA and MBA from Harvard University."

By Linda J. Bilmes

 * "People scorecards: scoring goals for people and company," Nielson Group, November 22, 2001.
 * "Poor start for Bush's Aids programme," Financial Times (Information Clearing House), July 7, 2003: "His 2003 budget requested only $1.9bn - an increase of just $450m on what was spent in 2002 and a third less than the $3bn a year implied by the State of the Union promise." re HIV/AIDS.
 * Election 2004: Policy, Potential and Promise: Interview with Linda J. Bilmes, John F. Kennedy School of Government, February 23, 2004.
 * OpEd: "The Trillion-Dollar War," New York Times (Harvard University), August 20, 2005; also posted at truthout.
 * With W. Scott Gould, "Getting the Federal Workers We Need," Washington Post, August 31, 2005.
 * With W. Scott Gould, Testimony before the Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, October 5, 2005.
 * "Disasters and the Deficit," The Atlantic, December 2005.
 * With Joseph E. Stiglitz, "The Economic Costs of the War in Iraq: An Appraisal Three Years After the Beginning of the Conflict," Columbia University, January 2006.

SourceWatch Resources

 * funding the war in Iraq

Profiles

 * Faculty Profile: Linda J. Bilmes, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Articles & Commentary

 * Richard Sisk, "VA faces hurdles treating wounded," New York Daily News, October 26, 2005.
 * Pascal Riche, "The Cost of The War," TPM Cafe, January 5, 2006.
 * Jamie Wilson, "Iraq War Could Cost US Over $2 Trillion, says Nobel Prize-Winning Economist," Guardian (UK) (Common Dreams), January 7, 2006: "Economists say official estimates are far too low; New calculation takes in dead and injured soldiers."
 * Bryan Bender, "Economists say cost of war could top $2 trillion. Tally exceeds White House projections," Boston Globe, January 8, 2006: "The findings will be presented at the Sheraton Boston Hotel today at a conference of economists and social scientists sponsored by the Allied Social Sciences Association, the American Economic Association, and the Economists for Peace and Security."
 * Jason Szep, "Cost of Iraq war could top $2 trillion: study," Reuters, January 9, 2006.
 * Andrew Walker, "US economist questions Iraq costs," BBC, January 9, 2006.
 * Martin Wolf, "The failure to calculate the costs of war," Financial Times, January 10, 2006.
 * Tom Regan, "Report: Iraq war costs could top $2 trillion. New study takes into account long-term costs of healthcare for wounded soldiers," Christian Science Monitor, January 10, 2006.