Peter Morici

Professor Emeritus Peter Morici is a recognized expert on economic policy and international economics. Prior to joining the university, he served as director of the Office of Economics at the U.S. International Trade Commission. He is the author of 18 books and monographs and has published widely in leading public policy and business journals including the Harvard Business Review and Foreign Policy. Morici has lectured and offered executive programs at more than 100 institutions including Columbia University, the Harvard Business School and Oxford University.

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Keep the Shareholder Payouts Coming

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. "The money won for shareholders does not disappear," professor Peter Morici writes in a national column. "It may not get spent on immediate consumption but often gets reinvested. And that's where the cash often comes from to finance the next Google, Fusion or Shapeways." Read more...

Expect Lackluster Job Creation, Smith Professor Says

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. Smith School professor Peter Morici tells CNBC that 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. Read more...

Why Economics Make the Iran Nuke Deal Unenforceable

While Israel proposes that Iran cease all nuclear research and development activity as part of a U.S.-Iran nuclear deal, such an agreement would prove unenforceable. “Ultimately, Tehran will become the dominant economic and military power in the Middle East and if it chooses, build nuclear weapons," Smith professor Peter Morici writes in a guest column for CNBC. Read more...

How to Replace the Income Tax

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 Smith School professor Peter Morici. In a column today, Morici says other nations more efficiently rely on consumption taxes. The U.S. system should shift in that direction, he says. Read more...

Mixing Coffee and Race: "Leave It to Politicians"

Smith economics professor Peter Morici comes from a family of sales professionals. "My father and uncles all sold life insurance," he tells ABC 7 News in Washington, D.C. Their advice to Morici was to avoid politics and religion when talking to customers. Morici says Starbucks has broken this rule with its "Race Together" campaign. "The president and this administration have put race into every discussion," Morici says. "That's all the more reason for someone in commerce to stay out of it and to leave it to politicians." Watch the clip starting at 2:35...

Five Things You Should Know About Interest Rate Hikes

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. Similarly, Smith School professor Peter Morici says the Fed “has been giving banks virtually free money by keeping their short-term borrowing rates near zero” -– and this could end soon. He offers five things you need to know about the possible hike. Read more...

How Greece’s Woes Will Hit U.S. Pocketbooks

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. “As the Federal Reserve raises rates this summer, the impact on mortgage rates will be more limited because of the uncertainty over the euro,” he says in an article at ABC News...

Smith Faculty Opinion Article

On Tuesday, December 9, 2008 I testified on the auto industry bailout before the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. Here is my testimony. C-Span link:http://www.cspan.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-R-13281

Smith Professor Peter Morici Testifies on State of U.S. Auto Industry

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.

Statement to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Investments by Sovereign Wealth Funds in the United States

My name is Peter Morici. I am an economist and Professor of Business at the University of Maryland. Thank you for this opportunity to participate in these hearings. I will devote my remarks to the issues raised by the recent surge in investments by sovereign wealth funds in the United States.

What Is a Sovereign Wealth Fund?

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