Could the economy get … too good?

Post Reports

The Washington Post

Daily News, Politics, News

4.4 • 5.1K Ratings

🗓️ 6 April 2021

⏱️ ? minutes

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Summary

Why some prominent economists and Republican lawmakers are worried the economy might recover too quickly. And, what it’s like to be a teenager while lawmakers debate your right to exist.

The Federal Reserve has emerged as a White House ally in rejecting concerns about overdoing the stimulus. But Rachel Siegel reports that some economists and market analysts are raising alarm bells about the risks of overstimulating the economy and triggering inflation. In other words — could we be recovering too quickly?

What used cars tell us about the risk of too much inflation hitting the economy.

On Tuesday, the nation's first ban on medical treatments for transgender youths passed in Arkansas. Similar bills are being considered in at least 17 other states. Samantha Schmidt reports from one of those states, Missouri, where a transgender girl is struggling to find her voice as legislators attack her right to exist.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	From the newsroom of the Washington Post.
0:07.0	It's Robert Samuels from the Washington Post.
0:10.0	Post is Sarah Kaplan.
0:12.0	Hi, this is Elahi Azari with the Washington Post.
0:15.0	This is Post Reports.
0:17.0	I'm Martin Powers.
0:21.0	It's Tuesday, April 6.
0:25.0	Today, the dangers of an overheating economy.
0:29.0	And a look at the rights of transgender teens in conservative states.
0:38.0	So Rachel, I remember talking to you a few weeks ago and just catching up and asking you what
0:43.0	you were working on.
0:44.0	And you said that you were working on this big story about how economists are very afraid
0:50.0	that the economy is going to bounce back too well.
0:54.0	Like economically, the country might be on too good of a path.
0:58.0	And that, to me, sounded completely absurd.
1:02.0	It's a really hard concept to wrap all of our heads around.
1:07.0	That's Rachel Siegel, economics reporter for the post.
1:11.0	You know, it's sort of is like too much of a good thing, which is a hard concept to grasp considering
1:17.0	how bad the economy was a year ago, and frankly, how bad things still are for so many people.
1:24.0	We're still about eight and a half million jobs down from where we were in February of 2020.
1:32.0	But at the same time, as we were talking about, there's this simultaneous conversation about whether
1:38.0	the economy is going to bounce back with so much force that there could be some consequences
	...

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