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Past Event

Are we ready for the next recession?

Past Event

Financial markets seem to be anxious that a U.S. recession is on the horizon even though economic forecasters disagree. When the next recession arrives, will fiscal and monetary policy be able to respond? If so, how? The Federal Reserve is holding short-term interest rates near zero and faces resistance, internally and externally, to reviving large-scale purchases of assets. The federal debt is larger, as a share of the economy, than at any time since the end of World War II and is projected to climb further.

On March 21, the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy considered which fiscal and monetary policy tools will be available in the event of a recession—and which won’t—and how effective additional fiscal and monetary stimulus is likely to be, along with new ideas to make fiscal policy more effective.

You can join the conversation and tweet questions for the panelists at #NextRecession.

Download Jared Bernstein and Ben Spielberg’s “Preparing for the Next Recession: Lessons from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” »

Download David Wessel’s slides »

Download Wendy Edelberg’s slides »

Download Ben Spielberg’s slides »

Download Phillip Swagel’s slides »

Download Richard Clarida’s slides »

Download Jon Faust’s slides »

Agenda

Fiscal policy: Congress and the president

Ben Spielberg

Research Associate & Project Manager for Full Employment - Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Monetary policy: The Federal Reserve

Richard Clarida

C. Lowell Harriss Professor of Economics and Professor of International and Public Affairs - Columbia University

Vice Chair (former) - Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

Jon Faust

Director, Center for Financial Economics and Louis J. Maccini Professor of Economics - Johns Hopkins University

Panel and Audience Q&A

Richard Clarida

C. Lowell Harriss Professor of Economics and Professor of International and Public Affairs - Columbia University

Vice Chair (former) - Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

Jon Faust

Director, Center for Financial Economics and Louis J. Maccini Professor of Economics - Johns Hopkins University

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