Jackson Hole Summit: Economist Dr. Marc Miles on why the economy is stagnant - Granite Grok

Jackson Hole Summit: Economist Dr. Marc Miles on why the economy is stagnant

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Today was the last day of the Jackson Hole Summit in Wyoming. Yours truly sat down with economist Dr. Marc Miles to discuss the economy and interest rates and the affect of monetary policy on Americans. Dr. Miles was on a panel yesterday during the Summit in which he discussed how interest rates being kept artificially low actually hurts workers as opposed to helping them.

In this interview he tries to simplify the understanding of the stagnating economy along with theFederal Reserve. Miles talks about how the federal government’s ‘Quantitative Easing’ began 6 years ago but the economy is still sluggish. Everything the Federal Reserve is doing right now is making everything worse rather than better.

Miles talks about how the Federal Reserve policies actually affect regular Americans. He explains how people actually understand these things based on their own personal experiences. When interest rates are artificially low, companies will invest in more capital rather than investing in more workers because workers cost more money. This in turn hurts workers and causes wages to stagnate. This also creates a widening of income between the owners of the businesses and the workers, also known as “income inequality.”

Dr. Miles also talks about his historical research regarding interest rates. When interest rates go up, the income gap decreases. When interest rates go down, the income gap increases. The statistical evidence speaks volumes about policy yet it continues to be ignored by the Federal Reserve and lawmakers. You can watch Dr. Miles in action during the Summit here by forwarding to the 56 minute mark to see the entire panel discussion.

You can watch the interview here:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C06QIIizM8U]

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