Summary
I served as a Senior Economist on President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers. In that capacity, I had an opportunity to put my scholarly work on water into practice, serving in the then White House cabinet councils. I oversaw water resources and privatisation portfolios. The article below, published in August 2007, summarises how President Reagan and I worked on these matters.
Initiatives
One of my early initiatives on water was the advocacy of the private provision of urban water. Many of the Reagan administration’s initiatives in this sphere were based on my work that dealt with the French methods for organising the provision of water.
My other White House activities in the water field revolved around benefit-cost analysis. My research showed that the so-called “Federal Principles and Standards”, used to evaluate water projects, were flawed and biased towards overinvestment. As a result, I represented the White House in its effort to revise the “Federal Principles and Standards”. In addition, I re-evaluated all water resource projects proposed by the Department of the Interior. These projects needed to follow normal valuation and budgeting guidelines, but required my examination before approval.
Works
- Crisis Ridden Water Systems Should Go Private
- The Privatization Debate: An Insider’s View
- Face to Face
- Privatization
- Privatizing Water Works
- Reflections on Private Water Supply: Agency and Equity Issues
- Policy Note: Water Affordability and Accessibility in Baltimore