Is the U.S. Headed toward Another Recession? - TRNN Webathon Panel

Economists Dean Baker from CEPR and Robert Pollin from PERI say that the U.S. economy remains weak 5 years after the recession despite recent job growth, due to low wages and weakened unions

Bio

Robert Pollin is Professor of Economics and founding Codirector of the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research centers on macroeconomics, conditions for low-wage workers in the US and globally, the analysis of financial markets, and the economics of building a clean-energy economy in the US. Most recently, he co-authored the reports Job Opportunities for the Green Economy (June 2008) and Green Recovery(September 2008), exploring the broader economic benefits of large-scale investments in a clean-energy economy in the US. He has worked with the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Economic Commission on Africa on policies to promote to promote decent employment expansion and poverty reduction in Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. He has also worked with the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress and as a member of the Capital Formation Subcouncil of the US Competiveness Policy Council.

Dean Baker is co-director of The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). He is the author of several books including, The United States Since 1980; Social Security: The Phony Crisis (with Mark Weisbrot); and The Benefits of Full Employment (with Jared Bernstein). He appears frequently on TV and radio programs, including CNN, CBS News, PBS NewsHour, and National Public Radio.


Transcript snip* POLLIN: Well, I mean, it's very clear there is growth of the economy. The growth is very weak. And this is--you know, we're talking about the recession now ended. The recession ended in 2009, so we're talking about five years. We're still an economy that's very weak.

I mean, there are certainly some issues, anomalous issues with respect to the data, the GDP date from the last quarter, but that does not gainsay the fact, as reflected in the retail numbers you just reported, that the economy is limping along. I mean, in other recovery periods from recessions, after the recession ends, the economy tends to grow very fast. We haven't seen that happen at all.

in full: http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11951