WASHINGTON – Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Ranking Member Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) Wednesday pointed to a number of long-term challenges to the economy that public officials must tackle now that the economy is back on track following the 2008 financial crisis.             

At a hearing to discuss the Economic Report of the President (ERP), released February 22, Maloney said that increasing automation, retirement of the baby-boom generation, the loss of manufacturing jobs and growing economic inequality must be addressed in order for the economy to continue to expand.

 "Thanks to the bold policies of President Obama, the economy is now back on track after the worst recession since the Great Depression, Maloney said. “Now we must turn our attention to long-term issues that cannot be ignored, and focus on bolstering labor force participation, improving labor productivity and ensuring that economic gains are shared by all segments of our society, not just those at the top.”

Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) Chairman Jason Furman was the sole witness at the hearing. As required by the Employment Act of 1946, the JEC must provide a formal response to the ERP, which is available here.

The ERP is a comprehensive, data-driven assessment of the economy written by the CEA. It provides important information on the status of the current economic recovery, reviews the outlooks for future growth and provides policy recommendations for further strengthening the economy.

“We have just completed the best two years of private-sector job growth since the 1990s,” Maloney said. “We have recorded the fastest two-year drop in the unemployment rate in 30 years. The unemployment rate has been cut in half. And we’re in the midst of the longest streak of private-sector job creation in history – with a record 71 straight months of growth and the creation of 14 million jobs.

“What makes this record so noteworthy is the distance we have traveled.”

When President Obama succeeded President Bush, the economy was in a death spiral.

In the final quarter of 2008, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrunk at a staggering 8.2 percent annual rate, the worst quarterly economic performance in more than 50 years.

• The economy was losing 800,000 jobs a month.
• U.S household wealth fell by more than $13 trillion during the last seven quarters of the Bush presidency.
• Housing prices fell by 19 percent nationally between 2007 and 2011.

 Today, our economy is on solid ground.

• The GDP has grown in 24 of the past 26 quarters. Real GDP has grown by 14.5 percent since the start of the Obama administration.
• The auto industry – written off for dead by some – added nearly 640,000 jobs since 2009 and sales reached a record 17.4 million units in 2015.
• Housing prices have returned to 2007 levels.

Maloney said rebuilding the nation’s crumbling infrastructure would spur productivity growth; investments in early childhood education, including universal pre-k, would ensure a more productive labor force down the road; implementing policies such as paid family leave and workplace flexibility would deepen women’s attachment to the labor force; and achieving equal pay for equal work would reduce ever growing income and wealth inequalities.

 

Read Rep. Maloney’s full hearing statement here.
Read the Democratic response to the Economic Report of the President here.