Jason Furman: Where is the Economy Now—and Where Will it Be in November?

Conversations with Bill Kristol

News, Society & Culture, Government, Politics

4.7 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 25 June 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

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Summary

What is the state of the economy today and where might it be at the time of the November elections? To discuss, we are joined again by the distinguished Harvard economist Jason Furman, who was deputy director of the National Economic Council during the Financial Crisis and then served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in President Obama’s second term. As Furman puts it, in spite of the inflation of the past few years and other longer-term challenges, “We really are right now economically the envy of the world. So I think it makes a lot of sense that we worry about our problems and figure out what we can do to make it even better.” In a wide-ranging analysis, Furman shares his perspective on inflation, employment, debt, and both Biden and Trump economic policies regarding immigration, tariffs, and other questions. While highlighting the strength of the US economy today, Furman notes how public policy choices and domestic and world events could affect us in the long term.

Transcript

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0:00.0	And the Hi, I'm Bill Crystal.
0:15.0	Welcome back to Conversations.
0:18.0	I'm very pleased to be joined again for the,
0:20.0	it's the third time in a little over a year,
0:22.0	a year and a half by Jason Furman, Professor
0:24.8	of Economics at Harvard, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors for President Obama's
0:29.9	second term, but a senior Obama aide for the entire eight years of that presidency.
0:35.7	And most importantly for those of us who were undergraduates at Harvard, the lead professor
0:40.0	and Ek 10, the famous Harvard course, which now has 10 zillion students, right?
0:45.3	Am I right about that?
0:45.9	Is it getting bigger and bigger?
0:48.1	10 zillions are very precise number, exactly.
0:50.5	Right.
0:51.5	It's my training in economics, you know, I do, I like precision in those numbers.
0:55.0	It was a big course when I was there, but it's gotten bigger and bigger,
0:58.0	as I think that's correct, right?
1:00.0	Well, some people actually skip straight to the second year classes now because high school
1:04.8	economics is much more widespread than it was. So it's probably about the same size as
1:09.0	when you took it. Good. Anyway, thanks so much for joining me again.
1:14.0	I think your first two conversations, which I looked back at the transcript of a stand up.
1:17.6	Well, actually, I mean, you were pretty much on the mark and what you thought was happening a year and a half ago and
1:24.4	then about seven or eight months ago.
	...

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