On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria,” Professor of Economics at Harvard University and former International Monetary Fund Chief Economist Ken Rogoff stated that “inflation’s still very entrenched.”
Rogoff said, [relevant remarks begin around 2:00] “[A] recession has more elements than just the two quarters of GDP growth, because…GDP is very badly measured. But we’re worried about having a hard landing. We’re not really worried so much that growth comes in for a quarter or two at -0.1%. We’re worried about something that causes a lot of unemployment. That’s not showing up yet. But the inflation’s still very entrenched. That was another point the IMF made is, we may see goods prices go up and down, but services are the majority of what we consume. And there’s a lot of inflation entrenched there, a lot to come.”
He added, “The labor market has been surprising. I think, certainly, a few months ago, when it really bounced back, I was surprised. I expected it to slow down. And it’s certainly a very divided labor market. If you’re in the tech sector, and I think, to some extent, in finance, they’re just looking at layoffs at one firm after another. But, on the other hand, at things like restaurants, hotels, they just can’t get enough workers.”
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