Economics Project Earns Senior Celebrity Status

Between the calls from radio stations and publishers and interviews for job recruiting, Meredith E. Bagby '95 says she hasn't had time to shop second term classes.

Bagby has become the subject of much attention since Ross Perot called her and asked to show her "First Annual Report of the United States of America" to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday.

Yesterday, she appeared on the cover of the Boston Globe accompanied by a color photo of her Winthrop House room.

"I don't know how to take it right now," Bagby says. "I'm getting calls from all over the place...publishers, Channel 7, radio stations, NBC."

The attention is a result of Bagby's 70-page pamphlet on the state of the U.S. economy, an independent project the economics concentrator finished this October.

Bagby says she intended to create a report in which the public could view the national debt in plain terms, much as stockholders read reports from the corporations in which they invest.

"People throw a lot of terms around like 'deficit.' They say, 'isn't it awful we have one?'" Bagby says. "But people don't even know what it all means."

The inspiration for the report struck Bagby in a macroeconomics course taught by William Joseph Maier Professor of Political Economy Benjamin M. Friedman. In his lecture, Friedman said the U.S. has gone from the biggest creditor nation to the biggest debtor nation in some 50 years.

"It sort of snowballed, but the initial reaction was there [in Friedman's class]," Bagby says. "Then in a dinner conversation with my parents, they were complaining about--surprise--taxes. The actual idea of a report came out of that conversation."

Bagby spent her junior year researching for the project and wrote the report in one month last summer. Then, with $2,500 in loans and savings she paid for a run of 250 copies.

Because traditional publishers showed no interest in her report, Bagby sentout press releases, one of which went to MiamiHerald columnist James Russell. After readingRussell's column, a worker from United We Standrelayed a copy of Bagby's report to Perot, shesays.

Perot hailed the report in his address to theSenate, and an AP photograph captured Bagby's workin his hand.

"It all started when Ross Perot called me.Everything he touches is gold," Bagby says. "Perotis a great man. He's been so nice to me. Herepresents a movement away from careerpoliticians, what is expected in Washington, and alook to the private sector."

Bagby says she hopes to sign with a publisherand produce a second run of the report or to sellthe report independently. Of course the senior isbusy is working on a thesis on tax policy andlabor supply.

"The thesis is very different from the report.The work is very tailored to academia," she says."[On the other hand,] the report is watered downand is not a Nobel Prize winning piece. It'swritten in newspaper language."

Bagby says she is still looking for a job forafter graduation. While recruiting, Bagby says sheapplied to law schools. Ironically, Perot calledher on the same day that she was rejected fromHarvard Law School.

"That's O.K. I'll try again someday," she says

Perot hailed the report in his address to theSenate, and an AP photograph captured Bagby's workin his hand.

"It all started when Ross Perot called me.Everything he touches is gold," Bagby says. "Perotis a great man. He's been so nice to me. Herepresents a movement away from careerpoliticians, what is expected in Washington, and alook to the private sector."

Bagby says she hopes to sign with a publisherand produce a second run of the report or to sellthe report independently. Of course the senior isbusy is working on a thesis on tax policy andlabor supply.

"The thesis is very different from the report.The work is very tailored to academia," she says."[On the other hand,] the report is watered downand is not a Nobel Prize winning piece. It'swritten in newspaper language."

Bagby says she is still looking for a job forafter graduation. While recruiting, Bagby says sheapplied to law schools. Ironically, Perot calledher on the same day that she was rejected fromHarvard Law School.

"That's O.K. I'll try again someday," she says