The WSJ published some short remarks by economists at the Economists’ convention in San Francisco currently underway.
The remarks by Martin Feldstein about the US economy in 2016 struck me as so bizarre that I provide them to the list. The Harvard econ department has some really odd members. Here is Feldstein: > Martin Feldstein > > Harvard University economist and former chairman of the White House Council > of Economic Advisers under President Ronald Reagan > > “The U.S. economy is now in very good shape. We’re essentially at full > employment, with the overall unemployment rate at 5%, and the unemployment > rate among college graduates a remarkably low 2.5%….Looking ahead, the growth > of GDP in 2016 will be limited by the absence of excess capacity in the > economy rather than by a lack of demand….The primary risk to the U.S. economy > in the coming year is probably the mispricing of assets and the provision of > high-risk loans, both of which are the result from excessive reaching for > yield by investors and lenders because of the very low interest rates at all > maturities that have prevailed in recent years.” I’ve included as well the remaining economists the WSJ cited. Most of these seem strange to me as well. > Joseph E. Stiglitz > > Columbia University economist and former chairman of the White House Council > of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton > > “I think there is a problem of underlying aggregate demand, that the headline > unemployment rate disguises a lot of unemployment and that while it is very > good news…there is essentially full employment of college graduates, there > are large parts of the American labor market that [are] underemployed or > unemployed. And that’s reflected in inflation, inflationary pressures, and > one of the reasons wages have been doing so poorly.” > > Loretta Mester > > President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland > > “The economy has made substantial progress toward the Fed’s goals of maximum > employment and price stability—enough progress that in December the > [rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee] moved its target federal funds > rate up by 25 basis points from essentially zero, where it had stood for > seven years. Even with this increase, monetary policy is expected to remain > accommodative for some time to come and will continue to support the > expansion. I believe this first step on a gradual path toward more normal > policy should be viewed as welcome news. It is an indication of monetary > policy makers’ confidence that the economic progress we have seen in recent > years will continue.” > > Betsey Stevenson > > University of Michigan economist and former member of the White House Council > of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama > > “It’s much harder to achieve sustained economic growth over 3% with declining > labor-force participation….Nearly one in five prime-age adults are sitting on > the sidelines today and not participating….That points out just how the > unemployment rate, the 5% unemployment rate—while it’s a terrific victory in > terms of recovery from the recession—it is only a small slice of the > underutilized talent in the economy.” _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
