Stevenson optimistic in the face of inflation worries

October 27, 2021 Colloquy

In the face of rising inflation and sub-par job growth, Ford School professor Betsey Stevenson is optimistic that the U.S. economy can recover the from the recession and chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

She told the podcast Colloquy, "There's a range of possible outcomes where the worst possible outcome is we're in a terrible place where we're unable to deal with all this debt because we're dealing with another raging public health crisis. A much better outcome is we learn a whole lot of lessons. And we are really prepared for the next public health crisis so that it doesn't cost us as much in terms of lives or dollars. 

The truth is that there's a whole middle range of outcomes in there as well. And they all have probability weights on them. I think it's most likely that we come out stronger. Historically, the US and other developed countries have been able to rally in a way that leads us out of a crisis."