Linda Bilmes

Lecturer in Public Policy
Harvard Kennedy School
Office Address
Belfer-402
Mailing Address
John F. Kennedy School of Government
Mailbox 82
79 JFK Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Contact
Phone: 617-495-4753
Email: Linda_Bilmes@ksg.harvard.edu
Assistant
Tammy Sopp (617-496-6804)
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Profile

Professor Linda J. Bilmes is a full-time faculty member at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she teaches budgeting, applied budgeting and public finance. She is a faculty affiliate of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Rappaport Center for Greater Boston. At Harvard, Bilmes runs an innovative program to assist local cities and towns with their financial health, leading teams of student volunteers who work in the communities. She also conducts the Harvard Institute of Politics budgeting workshops for newly-elected Mayors and Members of Congress.

Bilmes is widely considered one of the leading experts in US budgeting and public finance. She has held senior positions in government, including Assistant Secretary and Chief Financial Officer of the US Department of Commerce, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Administration, and US Representative to several high-ranking commissions, including a Treasury Department commission to examine the viability of the Inter-American Investment Corporation. She currently serves on the National Parks Second Century Commission.

Bilmes is co-author (with Joseph Stiglitz) of the New York Times bestseller The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict (Norton 2008) and co-author (with W. Scott Gould) of The People Factor: Strengthening America by Investing in Public Service (Brookings). She has written extensively on financial and budgetary issues in newspapers, magazines and academic journals including the New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, Atlantic Monthly, Foreign Policy, Harpers and the Milken Review. She has testified at numerous congressional hearings on subjects including veterans benefits, public service and the cost of the Iraq War. Bilmes has appeared on many national broadcasts, including the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, CNN World News Tonight, In the Money, the Lou Dobbs Show, CBS Evening News, Democracy Now, NPRs Fresh Air, All Things Considered, Here and Now, and On Point. She is featured in Charles Fergusons award-winning documentary film about Iraq, No End In Sight. Bilmes previously spent 10 years as a management consultant with The Boston Consulting Group, advising major corporations and governments on strategy and financial management. She is the recipient of the 2008 Speaking Truth to Power Award from the American Friends Service Committee. Bilmes holds a BA and MBA from Harvard University.

Courses

Fall

  • MLD-411 Budgeting and Financial Management

Not Offered

  • DPI-116M The Executive Branch of Government

Spr Mod3

  • MLD-417M Complex Budgeting and Financial Management

Spring

  • MLD-412 Advanced Applied Budgeting

Media Expertise

Linda Bilmes welcomes media inquiries on the following subjects:

Additional experts may be found by clicking on each subject listed. You may contact faculty directly or if you need assistance contact the Communications Office at 617-495-1115.

Research

For a complete list of faculty citations from 2001 - present, please visit the Harvard Kennedy School Research Report Online.

Selected Publication Citations:

  • Book Chapters
    • Bilmes, Linda, and Jeffrey Neal. "The People Factor: Human Resources Reform in Government." For the People: Can We Fix Public Service? Ed. John D. Donahue and Joseph S. Nye, Jr. Brookings Institution, 2003.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Scoring Goals for People and Company." Mastering People Management: Your Single-Source Guide to Becoming a Master of People Management. Ed. James Pickford. FT Prentice Hall, 2003.
    • Stiglitz, Joseph, and Linda Bilmes. "Hidden Wounds and Accounting Tricks: Disguising the True Costs." Lessons From Iraq: Avoiding the Next War. Ed. Miriam Pemberton and William D. Hartung. Penguin Publishers, 2008, 48-64.
  • Books
    • Stiglitz, Joseph E., and Linda J. Bilmes. The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict. W.W. Norton, 2008.
    • Bilmes, Linda J., and W. Scott Gould. The People Factor: Strengthening America By Investing in Public Service. Brookings Institution Press, 2009.
  • HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series
    • Bilmes, Linda, and Joseph E. Stiglitz. "The Economic Costs of the Iraq War: An Appraisal Three Years after the Beginning of the Conflict." KSG Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP06-002, January 2006.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Soldiers Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan: The Long-term Costs of Providing Veterans Medical Care and Disability Benefits." KSG Faculty Research Working Paper Series RWP07-001, January 2007.
  • Magazine and Newspaper Articles
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Disasters and the Deficit." Atlantic Monthly December 2005.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Disasters and Deficit." Atlantic Monthly. December 2005.
    • Bilmes, Linda and W. Scott Gould. "New Book Looks at What College Students are Thinking about Government Jobs." Federal Manager Magazine. April 2006.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Ask This: Total Economic Cost of the War in Iraq." Nieman Watchdog. September 2006.
    • Bilmes, Linda and Joseph Stiglitz. "The Economic Cost of Iraq War." Milken Institute, 4th Quarter. October 2006.
    • Bilmes, Linda, and Joseph E. Stiglitz. "Encore: Iraq Hemorrhage." Milken Institute Review (December 2006): 76-83.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Iraq's 100-Year Mortgage." Foreign Policy. March/April 2008.
    • Stiglitz, Joseph E., and Linda Bilmes. ""The $3 Trillion War."." Vanity Fair. April 2008.
    • Stiglitz, Joseph E., and Linda J. Bilmes. "The $10 Trillion Hangover." Harper's Magazine. January 2009, 31-35.
    • Bilmes, Linda J. "Investing in the People Who Make Government Work." Federal Manager. Summer 2009.
  • Op-Eds
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Wise Tending in the Jobs Garden." Financial Times, November 26, 2001.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Scoring Goals for People and Company." Financial Times, November 26, 2001.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Bush's Future Is in Blair's Hands." Financial Times, March 6, 2003.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "A Poor Start for Bush's AIDS Programme." Financial Times, July 7, 2003.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Bush Joins the Donor Big League." Financial Times, December 3, 2003.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "The Truth About the Reagan Deficits." Washington Post, February 10, 2004.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Bush's Gamble on the Afghan Front." Financial Times, March 30, 2004.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Civil Service Has Morphed Into U.S. Inc." Los Angeles Times, July 18, 2004.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "A Budget in Bush's Own Image." Financial Times, February 8, 2005.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "The Trillion-Dollar War." New York Times, August 20, 2005.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Uncle Sam Really Wants Usted." Los Angeles Times, August 21, 2005.
    • Bilmes, Linda, and W. Scott Gould. "Getting the Federal Workers We Need." Washington Post, August 31, 2005.
    • Bilmes, Linda, and Joseph Stiglitz. "War's Stunning Price Tag." Los Angeles Times, January 17, 2006.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "The Battle of Iraq's Wounded." Los Angeles Times, January 5, 2007.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Soldiers Trapped in Limbo." Boston Globe, March 21, 2007.
    • Stiglitz, Joseph, and Linda Bilmes. "The Three Trillion Dollar War: The Cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan Conflicts have Grown to Staggering Proportions." The Times of London, February 23, 2008.
    • Bilmes, Linda, and Joseph E. Stiglitz. ""The Iraq War Will Cost Us $3 Trillion, and Much More."." Washington Post, March 9, 2008.
    • Bilmes, Linda, and Joseph Stiglitz. "War's Price Tag." Los Angeles Times, March 16, 2008.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Another Year, Another $300 Billion." Boston Globe, March 16, 2008.
    • Bilmes, Linda, and Joseph Stiglitz. "The High Cost of Fighting a Losing Battle." Financial Times, March 18, 2008.
    • Bilmes, Linda. ""The Cost of War."." Harvard Crimson, March 19, 2008.
    • Stiglitz, Joseph E., and Linda Bilmes. "There is No Such Thing as a War for Free." Chicago Tribune, March 20, 2008.
    • Stiglitz, Joseph, and Linda Bilmes. ""$3 Trillion May Be Too Low."." The Guardian (U.K.), April 6, 2008.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Is This Any Way to Rebuild Iraq?" Los Angeles Times, August 15, 2008.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "As Creditors Get Edgy, US Keeps Spending." Boston Globe, November 9, 2008.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Help Wanted in Public Service." Boston Globe, April 15, 2009.
    • Bilmes, Linda J., and Joseph Stiglitz. "The U.S. in Iraq: An Economics Lesson." Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2009.
  • Public Testimony
    • Bilmes, Linda J. Testimony to the Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce and Agency Organization, Committee on Government Reform, US House of Representatives, October 3, 2005.
    • Bilmes, Linda J. Testimony to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, Veterans Affairs Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, March 13, 2007.
    • Bilmes, Linda J. Testimony to the VA Claims Roundtable Hearing, Veterans Affairs Committee, U.S. Representatives, May 23, 2007.
    • Bilmes, Linda J. "The Growing Costs of the Iraq War." Testimony to the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives, October 24, 2007.
    • Bilmes, Linda. Testimony to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, Veterans Affairs Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, February 13, 2008.
  • Research Papers/Reports
    • Bilmes, Linda. "Activity-Based Budgeting for Massachusetts." Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston PB-2006-4, September 2006.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "The Three Trillion Dollar War." Presentation to the Council on Foreign Relations, March 2008.
    • Bilmes, Linda. "The Economics of Neurological Combat Injuries." Conference paper for the American Neurological Association Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, September 21-24, 2008.