SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- The Senate-adopted bill giving President Obama “fast track” authority to conclude a free trade agreement with Asian nations remains in the balance despite earlier projections of House passage this week, Politico reports.  Economist

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- A surge of shareholder activism has fueled debate about how companies should balance dividend payouts with long-term investment, but an economist at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business says the money gets reinvested either way.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- A second month of slow job growth appears to further delay a looming interest-rate hike prescribed by Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen six weeks ago. Professor Peter Morici at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business says such a hike risks pushing up the dollar and handicapping U.S. exports. Without a hike, prolonged slow growth means lackluster job creation below 2014 levels. 

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- While Israel proposes that Iran cease all nuclear research and development activity as part of a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, such an agreement will prove unenforceable, according to Peter Morici, professor of intern

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- Personal and corporate income tax laws are complex and expensive. The collective cost of tax filing, record keeping and the like is least $170 billion a year, says professor Peter Morici at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. In a column today, Morici says other nations more efficiently rely on consumption taxes than income taxes. The U.S. system should shift in that direction, he says. 

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- Economics professor Peter Morici at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business comes from a family of sales professionals.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- An interest rate hike could come as early as June, according to a New York Times analysis of Tuesday’s congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen.

SMITH BRAIN TRUST -- Smith Professor Peter Morici says shifting European politics could have a depressing effect on U.S. interest rates. That's because uncertainty about the euro will cause Europeans to send money to the U.S., and that could push up stock prices and push down interest rates.

On Tuesday, December 9, 2008 I testified on the auto industry bailout before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.  Testimony House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming “Innovation, Jobs and Energy Independence Reinvigorating the Domestic Automobile Industry” Submitted by Peter Morici Professor, Robert H. Smith School of Business University of Maryland, College Park MD 20742

Robert H. Smith School of Business professor Peter Morici testified Nov. 18, 2008, at a U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs hearing examining the challenges facing the automotive industry. Morici joined a panel that included Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., and the major players in the U.S. auto  industry: Alan Mulally, president and CEO of Ford Motor Company; Robert Nardelli, chairman and CEO of Chrysler LLC; and G.