Economic Prospects and Policies
VIEW EVENT DETAILSLuncheon presentation by Dr Sidney Jones, former U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy and Lead Director, Sit Mutual Funds
The slow and erratic recovery of the U.S. economy from the "deepest, longest, and most diffused" economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s continues to be disappointing. While the recession officially ended in June 2009, real growth since has increased at an annual rate of only 2.4% — less than half the average pace of previous postwar recovery cycles. The consensus forecast projects real growth of only 2% in 2012 based on moderate consumer spending and business investment, a tentative recovery of housing construction and sales activity from an extremely depressed level, flat net exports as the global economy slows down, and negative contributions from government spending. Meanwhile, unemployment and underemployment problems, cautious consumer spending caused by tentative "deleveraging" efforts to reduce excessive household debt and increase inadequate savings, restrained housing starts and sales, tenuous government budgets, recurring European sovereign debt and banking crises, and a global slowdown of economic activity have combined to create great uncertainty.
Sidney Jones, former U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy, will discuss the economic prospects and policies for the U.S. in this election year, and what it means for the rest of the world. Dr. Jones is currently Lead Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee at Sit Mutual Funds. He has also served as Assistant to the Chairman of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve, and Visiting Professor at Carleton College, Cornell University, University of Northern Carolina and Georgetown University. He is a graduate of Utah State University and received his MBA and PhD from Stanford University.