Ford School professor Justin Wolfers, an expert economist, recently joined the International Monetary Fund as a panelist to discuss the current economy and how to boost resiliency.
"I just wanted to offer a moment of rhetorical reframing because we economists almost always obsess about what’s wrong with the world and what could go wrong," he said. "If we’re thinking about a social contract, perhaps the way to rebuild optimism and capacity is to talk about what’s right in the world and what works."
Wolfers continued: "Even though the world is imperfect and we worry about scarring and we worry about inflation and we worry about inequality, we should also acknowledge that almost any economic or social indicator, from maternal death to happiness to GDP has been getting better and almost all of them just before COVID were at the best levels ever in human history. I see a lot to be optimistic about."
