Editors’ Summary of the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity – 1981 No 1

George L. Perry and

George L. Perry Senior Fellow Emeritus - Economic Studies

William C. Brainard

WCB

William C. Brainard

THIS ISSUE of Brookings Papers on Economic Activity contains articles
and reports presented at the thirty-first conference of the Brookings Panel
on Economic Activity, which was held in Washington, D.C., on April 9
and 10, 1981. Four articles address economic issues of current importance:
the causes of the slowdown in productivity growth, the impacts of
various proposals for tax reform on investment and the stock market,
financial innovations and their implications for monetary policy, and the
importance of oil prices and other economic developments on current account
balances and exchange rates. Two shorter reports examine the
problems with traditional mortgages and retirement annuities in a period
of inflation, and the characteristics of price expectations by business during the
1970s.