J. Bradford DeLong on the US Federal Reserve, supply-side progressivism, and more

DeLong explains how the Fed is undermining market and investor confidence, urges US Democrats to uphold supply-side progressivism, and more. The PS Say More Newsletter | [View this message in a web browser]( [PS Say More]( This week in Say More, PS talks with J. Bradford DeLong, Professor of Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of [Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century](. To read the full interview – in which DeLong accuses the US Federal Reserve of undermining market and investor confidence, urges US Democrats to uphold supply-side progressivism, proposes a straightforward approach to addressing the problems of distribution and utilization, and more – [click here](. J. Bradford DeLong Says More... Syndicate: In March, you [wrote]( that higher inflation was “inevitable and therefore not regrettable,” because it was “a side effect and a consequence of the robust recovery,” which amounts to a “massive policy victory.” You also predicted that price stability would return in the medium term, though you also noted in June that the US Federal Reserve’s ability to raise interest rates sufficiently was [constrained]( by forward guidance. Are you still relatively sanguine about US inflation, and was the Fed’s latest interest-rate hike the right call? How effective will the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) be in supporting the Fed’s efforts to ease inflation? J. Bradford DeLong: All confident predictions of a return to price stability have been upset by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine and the resulting shocks to energy and grain prices. With the war extremely unlikely to be brought to a rapid conclusion, a soft landing may no longer be possible. But we should still try for one. Is the Fed’s latest interest-rate hike the [right call]( My strong belief is... [Continue reading]( Sponsored [1440: News without motives]( Every morning, 1440 scours over 100 sources and compiles all of the most important stories on culture, science, sports, politics, business, and everything in between. The result is a nifty little newsletter that takes only five minutes to read. It is the fastest way to an informed and impartial point of view. [Sign up for 1440]( and read your first newsletter now. By the Way... PS: In your new book, [Slouching Towards Utopia: An Economic History of the Twentieth Century]( your “grand narrative” of the “long twentieth century” (1870-2010) is shaped – for better or worse, depending on who and where you are – by globalization and, more recently, neoliberalism. Now, we have seemingly entered an age of deglobalization, and the neoliberal orthodoxy is being widely challenged. Do these trends make you hopeful, worried, or something else? Are there historical lessons we should be heeding to ensure that our current path doesn’t take us in circles? JBD: I think that the major lesson is that, at a time of rapid technological advancement, it is vain and counterproductive to try to revive institutions from the past. The underlying structure of production and work is... [Continue reading]( [PS Say More: An Interview with Mary Robinson]( [An Interview with Mary Robinson]( In 2020, Mary Robinson challenged the notion of “climate fatigue,” explained why climate change isn’t gender-neutral, highlighted how storytelling drives progress, and more. Robinson, a former president of Ireland and former UN high commissioner for human rights, is Chair of The Elders and Chair of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre’s Advisory Board. [Read the interview]( [Watch our latest virtual event, Investing in Health for All]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [LinkedIn]( Project Syndicate publishes and provides, on a not-for-profit basis, original commentary by the world's leading thinkers to more than 500 media outlets in over 150 countries. Receipt of this newsletter does not guarantee rights to re-publish any of its content. This newsletter is a service of [Project Syndicate](. [Change your newsletter preferences](. Follow us on [Facebook]( [Twitter]( and [YouTube](. © Project Syndicate, all rights reserved. [Unsubscribe from all newsletters](.