Editors’ Summary of the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity – 1997 No 1

George L. Perry and

George L. Perry Senior Fellow Emeritus - Economic Studies

William C. Brainard

WCB

William C. Brainard

THE BROOKINGS PANEL on Economic Activity held its sixty-third
conference in Washington, D.C., on March 27 and 28, 1997. This issue
of Brookings Papers on Economic Activity includes the papers and
discussions presented at that conference. In light of the great increase
in U.S. immigration and trade since the 1960, the first paper estimates
the impacts of these two factors on the labor market outcomes of U.S.
natives. The second paper examines the effects of systematic monetary
policy on the economy, disentangling these effects from the effects of
other shocks, such as OPEC oil price increases. The third considers
public resistance to the indexation of long-term contracts, using survey
data from the United States and from Turkey-a country with high and
variable inflation. The fourth examines to what extent and by what
means families are able to smooth year-to-year variation in the earnings
of the household head. The fifth paper addresses recent criticisms of
the procedures used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in accounting for
quality change in the Consumer Price Index. And the sixth assesses the
performance and prospects of Brazil’s stabilization and economic reform
under the Real Plan.