Holy Cross Students, Professor Publish Book on Economic Crisis

WORCESTER, Mass. – Nicolás Sánchez, professor of economics at the College of the Holy Cross, and two of his students, seniors Christopher Kopp and Francis Sanzari, are the authors of a new book that critically examines the U.S. financial crisis.  In Destined for Failure: American Prosperity in the Age of Bailouts (Praeger Publishing, August 2010), they take the Bush and Obama administrations to task for budget deficits and cronyistic subsidies and bailouts.

According to Sánchez, Kopp and Sanzari, if U.S. economic policies continue along previous paths that generated economic bubbles and unemployment, then our economy is destined for failure.  “Neither the Bush nor the Obama administrations have faced up to the economic problems,” they say.  “Bailouts fail because they do not address productivity growth, which is the main factor driving our economy.  The U.S. faces a serious recession not because there has been a lack of demand for goods and services but rather because there are structural problems that have made the country less competitive relative to other nations.”

Arguing that Keynesian economics is an outdated, detrimental ideology, the authors explain the effects of government regulation, political interference in the housing and job markets, misallocation of resources in health and education, moral hazard, environmental constraints, and excessive taxation.

Kopp and Sanzari are the first undergraduate authors to be published by Praeger Publishers, a division of the Greenwood Publishing Group, one of the world's leading publishers of reference titles, academic and general interest books.  Interested in reaching a broad audience, Sánchez invited them to collaborate on Destined for Failure, which provides a conceptual framework accessible to the general public and can be used as a supplementary text in classrooms.  “The experience was wonderful,” says Sánchez.  “We had several opportunities to present the work-in-progress in venues across the United States.  People who have heard Chris and Francis speak have been in awe of their intelligence, knowledge and poise.”

Christopher Kopp ’11, of Hamburg, N.Y., is a double major in mathematics and economics.  He is a member of both the economics department’s and College’s honors programs.  During the summer of 2009, he studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science.  This summer, he is an intern in the Alternative Investments Product Management division of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in New York City, through Holy Cross’ Summer Internship Program.

Francis Sanzari ’11, of West Hartford, Conn., is a double major in political science and economics, and is in both the economics department's and the College's honors programs.  He has presented his research in venues across the country, including at the 2010 Eastern Economic Association’s Annual Conference.  This summer, he is working for a global IT company in Singapore.

Nicolás Sánchez, professor of economics, has been a member of the faculty at Holy Cross since 1977.  During that time, he served as chair of the economics department and director of its honors program. His publications have appeared in some of the top economics journals in the U.S. and abroad.