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Pollin participates in UMass Amherst/Boston Globe public policy forum

Robert Pollin & Jeffrey Thompson (photo by Jim Davis, Globe Staff)

UMass Amherst and the Boston Globe launched a new public policy series titled, “Recession & Recovery: A Forum on Smart Policies for Sustainable Growth,” on Monday, March 28 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston. Panelists included Robert Pollin, UMass Amherst economics professor and co-director of the Political Economy Research Institute, Jeffrey Thompson of the Political Economy Research Institute, Lisa M. Lynch, dean and Maurice B. Hexter professor of Economic Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and Eric Rosengren, president and CEO at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

Rosengren says rising food and energy prices, caused by turmoil in the Middle East and increased prices in wheat due to poor harvests in Russia and Australia, could weaken the national economy. Pollin takes this further asserting that gas prices have soared because of a speculative bubble, noting that the commodities market is still unregulated. All four panelists agreed that unemployment, with rates still near 9% nationally, is the fundamental issue facing the economy, more so than the deficit. Rosengren feels that the deficit should be addressed long-term, “when we get closer to full-employment.” (Globe, 3/29/11; iMarketNews.com, Reuters, 3/28/11)

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