The Brookings Panel On Economic Activity held its ninety-second conference in Washington, D.C., on September 15 and 16, 2011, as the nation fiercely debated the appropriate policy response to a disappointing recovery from the Great Recession. The contributions to this volume of the Brookings Papers provide new insights into macro-economic fluctuations and into government actions to promote employment and growth.rnThe first three papers focus on the labor market. The first demonstrates that unemployment is terribly costly, much more so than conventional models imply. The second undertakes a thorough analysis of small businesses and of their owners' motivations, showing that, contrary to conventional wisdom, these businesses do not drive either employment growth or innovation. The third finds that the extensions in the duration of unemployment insurance benefits enacted in response to the Great Recession are contributing only a very small amount to unemployment.
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