NABE Economists Agree with Current Monetary Policy Stance, Express Varied Views on Other Leading Policy Issues

The NABE Economic Policy Survey presents the consensus of a panel of 266 members of the NationalAssociation for Business Economics. Conducted semiannually, this survey was taken Aug. 3-18, 2009. May be reprinted in whole or in part with credit given to NABE. This is one of three surveys conducted by NABE. The other two are the NABE Outlook and the NABE Industry Survey. Douglas Duncan, Fannie Mae; Richard Brown, FDIC; Michael Fratantoni, Mortgage Bankers Association; and Robert Fry, DuPont, conducted the analysis for this report.

Economists surveyed earlier this month by the National Association for Business Economics expressed strong agreement with the current posture of monetary policy and viewed the current stance of fiscal policy somewha tmore favorably. But, they indicated concerns about the paths both monetary and fiscal policy will take in the future. They were generally supportive of a number of the proposals for financial sector reform. But they voiced concerns about prospects for the federal budget, expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of cap-and-trade legislation for lowering global greenhouse gas emissions, and a majority doubt the ability of current health-care reform proposals to simultaneously lower costs while increasing access and maintaining quality.

“This is almost certainly one of the fastest-moving and most controversial economic policy environments we have experienced in a generation,” said NABE President Chris Varvares, president of Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC. “That said, NABE members express an impressive degree of confidence in monetary policy and impending financial reforms. The more vexing policy challenges about which there is less agreement are federal health-care, cap-and-trade, and budget policies, which are by no means independent of each other,” he added.

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