Letter from the Editor

摘要

In coming months, we face two historical unknowns. Are we about to have another setback in the economy? Who will control Congress in November? We have two critical pieces on these questions. In an eerie and potentially tragic replay of the politics of the Great Depression, there is a growing tide of demands to cut federal budget deficits as soon as possible. Yet the U.S. economy is not nearly out of the woods yet. And even if all goes well, the unemployment rate will not fall below 6.5 percent or so even through 2013. More to the point, there is a good chance things will not go well and that employment growth will be harder to generate than at any time since World War II. Jeff Faux, the former head of the Economic Policy Institute, strongly believes this is not the time to be discussing reduced fiscal stimulus. Yet the president is supporting an influential deficit commission that will largely discuss ways to reduce government spending in the future. Faux assesses the dangers.