Editors’ Summary of the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity – 2001 No 2

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 seventy-second conference
in Washington, D.C., on September 6 and 7, 2001. This issue of
Brookings Papers on Economic Activity includes the papers and discussions
presented at the conference. The first paper revisits the economy of
the former East Germany ten years after reunification, seeking to explain
why its convergence toward western German economic performance has
stalled. The second paper reviews macroeconomic policymaking in Japan
to determine whether the stagnant Japanese economy has responded to
policy stimulus as conventional models would predict. The third paper
tests alternative explanations of the greater generosity of social welfare
systems in Europe than in the United States. And the concluding paper
attempts to reconcile the observed high return on equities with reasonable
levels of risk aversion on the part of individuals.