Fighting the Next Recession

The Great Recession officially ended in June 2009 and the current recovery is still ongoing, yet economists believe that the next recession is likely to occur before the start of the next decade. In the wake of the Great Recession and the slow uptick in wages and job growth, how can past monetary, fiscal, and safety-net policymaking outcomes inform the response to next economic downturn? Which recession-fighting tools need to be re-examined in light of the high levels of income and wealth inequality in the United States?

The Washington Center for Equitable Growth on Tuesday, November 15th organized a keynote address from former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers exploring these questions in light of the structural changes at work in the U.S. economy. After the keynote, policymakers and academics who served during the Great Recession and studied the subsequent impacts of the downturn discussed what questions current policymakers and researchers must address before the next recession occurs.

Keynote Address

Lawrence H. Summers, Harvard University

Panel I: Lessons from the Last Recession

This panel looked back at the efforts to fight the Great Recession in order to glean lessons for the next effort to halt an economic downturn.

Panel II: Fiscal Policy during the Next Recession

When the next recession hits, what should be the role of fiscal policy? How large should a stimulus be? Where should the spending be targeted? This panel considered these questions and more.

Panel III: Monetary Policy during the Next Recession

How can and should the Federal Reserve react the next time the U.S. economy enters a recession? Panelists considered the best course of action in a period of permanently low interest rates.

Panel IV: Reforming the Safety Net for the Next Recession

This panel considered how the social safety net can be reformed to better act as an automatic stabilizer, injecting demand into the economy during the next recession.

A conversation on risks of recession in the near future with Olivier Blanchard and Ryan Avent

A conversation about the risks for the next recession, how likely it may be, and the forces that may cause it.

For any questions, please contact events@equitablegrowth.org.