followed by a series of what the Brookings Institution has called the “fiscal fights of the Obama administration.” The first fiscal fight resulted in the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) downgrade of US Treasury debt in August 2011. The equity markets, as measured by the S&P 500 Index, dropped about 19% between April and October

a, Illinois and Ohio} and University President at Southern Illinois University. He serves as an advisor to the School Evaluation Services Division of Standard and Poor’s, the PDK Gallup Poll, MetaMetrics Inc., and the Government Accountability Office. He holds a doctor of education degree in educational administration