Discussion

摘要

Robert Hall started the discussion by commenting on Martin Eichen-baum's prepared remarks. The author agreed with Eichenbaum that mismatch is a vampire squid and that the purpose of the matching function is to relieve mismatch. He also agreed that the Beveridge curve is not a useful concept in this context, because it conflates labor market dynamics and matching efficiency. He argued that, like Okun's Law, it is an undesirable aggregation of separate important issues and should be dismissed. On Eichenbaum's comment that there is more room for demand policies, he acknowledged it was possible, but argued that the effect in 2013 would not have been as big as in 2012, because the economy was weaker in 2012.