Committee for Economic Development

The Committee for Economic Development (CED) is a 501(c)(3) founded in 1942 that describes itself as a "non-profit, non-partisan business-led public policy organization." . In its mission statement, the CED states that it is an organization of "senior corporate executives and university leaders dedicated to policy research on major economic and social issues and the implementation of its recommendations by the public and private sectors." CED's headquarters is located in Washington, D.C.

Ties to Pete Peterson's "Fix the Debt"
The Campaign to Fix the Debt is the latest incarnation of a decades-long effort by former Nixon man turned Wall Street billionaire Pete Peterson to slash earned benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare under the guise of fixing the nation's "debt problem."

CED is a partner organization in the Fix the Debt Campaign.

CED has received $1,853,616 from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation since 2009, including:

Fiscal Year 2012 Fiscal Year 2011 Fiscal Year 2009
 * $250,000 to support its "Fiscal Health Initiative"
 * $603,616 to support efforts to identify and engage business leaders in the organization's issues
 * $1,000,000 to "support the development of approaches to educate and engage business leaders that will challenge their peers on Wall Street and main Street to recognize the need for a range of public policy reforms".

Peter G. Peterson himself is also a major supporter of CED, having donated $50,000 or more to the organization.

In the lead up to the 2012 elections, CED hosted four forums as a part of its Fiscal Health Initiative, the specific project the Peter G. Peterson Foundation funded through its 2012 grant. These forums implored legislators to enact fiscal austerity measures, including cuts to Medicare and Medicaid.

The so-called "premium support" model of Medicare "reform" advocated by CED, involving vouchers for private insurance plans, would "end Medicare as we know it," according to economist Dean Baker: "Under the Republican plan there is absolutely no guarantee that beneficiaries would be able to purchase plans that cover the services that IPAB [Independent Payment Advisory Board] might exclude from Medicare coverage. . . . Furthermore, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), based on extensive experience with private sector insurers who already operate in the Medicare system through Medicare Advantage, projects that private insurers will hugely increase the cost of getting Medicare-equivalent policies. This is both due to the fact that private insurers have much higher administrative expenses than the public Medicare system and also that they are less effective in containing costs."

This article is part of the Center for Media and Democracy's investigation of Pete Peterson's Campaign to "Fix the Debt." Please visit our main SourceWatch page on Fix the Debt.

Activities
The CED hosts numerous events centered around "Fiscal Health" and the Federal Budget. Events in 2012 and 2013 include:
 * "Policy Luncheon: The Future of Market Capitalism
 * "A Blueprint Or A Bridge To Nowhere? CED's Annual Analysis of the Budget Outlook"
 * "Understanding the Federal Budget"
 * "US Corporate Chiefs Asks Washington For New 'Competitiveness Agenda'"
 * "The Third Annual CED Economic Summit: Restoring Fiscal Health in the United States"

The CED also releases press statements and letters imploring legislators and the private sector to take part in advocating "for a bipartisan solution to the nation's long-term debt crisis in forums and other events around the country and at key points in the political debates." Statements and letters in 2012 include:
 * "A Call to Restore America's Long Term Fiscal Health- Now"
 * "A balanced approach to the nation's long-term debt crisis"
 * "Statement to the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction and List of Endorsers"
 * "CED statement on the debt-ceiling crisis"
 * "Letter of support for the Bipartisan Policy Center's Recommendations"

Major Financial Supporters
The following corporations and people have donated $50,000 and over to CED
 * Deloitte
 * Ernst and Young
 * Dow Chemical
 * FedEx
 * General Electric
 * Roger W. Ferguson Jr.
 * Honeywell
 * McKinsey & Company
 * Peter G. Peterson
 * PNC
 * Daniel Rose
 * State Farm Insurance
 * Wells Fargo

Experts and Leadership
Trustees Researchers Senior Staff
 * Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.: CED Co-Chair
 * Donald K. Peterson: CED Co-Chair
 * Janet Hansen: Fellow
 * Joseph J. Minarik: Senior Vice President and Director of Research
 * Elliot Schwartz: Vice President and Director of Economic Studies
 * Joseph J. Minarik: Senior Vice President and Director of Research
 * Michael Petro: Acting President
 * Buff Mackenzie: Senior Fellow

Research Advisory Board

 * John L. Palmer: Chair
 * Anthony J. Corrado
 * Alain C. Enthoven
 * Benjamin M. Friedman
 * Robert W. Hahn
 * Douglas Holtz-Eakin
 * Helen F. Ladd
 * Robert E. Litan
 * Zanny Minton Beddoes
 * William D. Nordhaus
 * Rudolph G. Penner

Contact
2000 L St. NW Suite 700 Washington, D.C., 20036 Web: http://www.ced.org

Featured SourceWatch Articles on Fix the Debt

 * Fix the Debt Portal Page
 * Fix the Debt's Leadership
 * Fix the Debt's Partner Groups
 * Fix the Debt's State Chapters
 * Fix the Debt's Lobbyists
 * Fix the Debt's Parent Group
 * Fix the Debt's Corporations
 * Pete Peterson
 * Peter G. Peterson Foundation
 * America Speaks
 * Simpson-Bowles Commission
 * Erskine Bowles
 * Alan Simpson
 * Social Security
 * Medicare
 * Medicaid

External Resources

 * "Fix the Debt Coalition Partners"

External Articles

 * Nancy Cook, Billionaire Peterson Sounds Alarm on Deficit, National Journal, November 26, 2012.
 * Paul Blumenthal and Christina Wilkie, Fix The Debt Campaign's Bipartisan Veneer Masks Conservative Backing, Huffington Post, December 3, 2012.