Day 1 recording:
Day 2 recording:
In the United States, COVID-19 triggered a sharp economic downturn. Yet, the ensuing economic recovery was faster and stronger than nearly any forecaster anticipated due in part to the swift, aggressive, sustained, and creative fiscal and monetary policy response in the U.S. While the next recession most likely won’t be triggered by a pandemic, the response can be informed by lessons learned from the COVID-19 recession.
The two-day event coincided with the release of a Hamilton Project and Hutchins Center book, of the same name, that examines and evaluates the breadth of the economic policy response to COVID-19. Chapters address Unemployment Insurance, Economic Impact Payments, loans and grants to businesses, assistance to renters and mortgage holders, aid to state and local governments, policies that targeted children, Federal Reserve policy, and the use of non-traditional data to monitor the economy and guide policy. These chapters provide evidence and lessons to apply to the next recession.
The two-day event featured a keynote address by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
On Wednesday, April 27, 2022, The Hamilton Project and the Hutchins Center hosted a webcast that featured some of the authors of chapters in the new book. The webcast included a framing discussion with Wendy Edelberg, The Hamilton Project, and Jason Furman, Harvard University, and three roundtable discussions with the book’s authors, moderated by Wendy Edelberg, The Hamilton Project; David Wessel, The Hutchins Center; and Austan Goolsbee, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
On Thursday, April 28, 2022, The Hamilton Project and Hutchins Center hosted an in-person event, which was also livestreamed online, featuring an introductory welcome from former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin, a keynote address from Secretary Yellen, and closing remarks from Glenn Hutchins, North Island. The event also included two roundtable discussions focusing on how well the federal economic policy responses were designed and administered and what we should keep in mind when the next recession hits. Participants included Sandy K. Baruah, Detroit Regional Chamber; Wendy Edelberg, The Hamilton Project; Jason Furman, Harvard University; Ylan Q. Mui, CNBC; Chairman Hakeem Jeffries, Eighth Congressional District of New York; Louise Sheiner, The Hutchins Center; Gene Sperling, The White House; Mayor Levar Stoney, City of Richmond, Commonwealth of Virginia; and Valerie Wilson, Economic Policy Institute.
For updates on the event, follow @HamiltonProj on Twitter and joined the conversation using #RecessionRemedies to submit questions for the panelists, or emailed [email protected].
Agenda
Wednesday, April 27, 2022 – Virtual
1:30 p.m. | Welcome and framing
Wendy Edelberg, Director, The Hamilton Project, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution
Jason Furman, Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy, Harvard University
1:45 p.m. | Roundtable discussion: Lessons learned about unemployment insurance and direct checks
Fiona Greig, Managing Director and Co-President, JPMorgan Chase Institute
Mel Stephens, Professor and Chair of Economics, University of Michigan
Moderator: Wendy Edelberg, The Hamilton Project
2:25 p.m. | Roundtable discussion: Lessons learned about state and local governments, housing, and children
Anna Aizer, Professor of Economics, Brown University
Laurie Goodman, Vice President, Housing Finance Policy, Urban Institute
Louise Sheiner, Policy Director, The Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy; The Robert S. Kerr Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution
Paul Willen, Senior Economist and Policy Advisor, Research, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Moderator: David Wessel, Director, Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution
3:15 p.m. | Roundtable discussion: Lessons learned about monetary policy, business, and data
Gabriel Chodorow-Reich, Associate Professor of Economics, Harvard University
Christopher Kurz, Chief, Industrial Output Section, Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
Jonathan Pingle, Managing Director, Chief U.S. Economist at UBS
Moderator: Austan Goolsbee, Robert P. Gwinn Professor of Economics, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Thursday, April 28, 2022 – Virtual or in-person
9:30 a.m. | Welcome
Robert E. Rubin, Former U.S. Treasury Secretary; Co-Chair Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations
9:35 a.m. | Keynote address
The Hon. Janet Yellen, Secretary, U.S. Treasury Department
9:55 a.m. | Roundtable discussion: Policy lessons learned
Sandy Baruah, President & Chief Executive Officer, Detroit Regional Chamber
Wendy Edelberg, Director, The Hamilton Project, Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution
Louise Sheiner, Policy Director, The Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy; The Robert S. Kerr Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution
Valerie Wilson, Director, Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy, Economic Policy Institute
Moderator: Jason Furman, Aetna Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy, Harvard University
10:45 a.m. | Break
11:00 a.m. | Roundtable discussion: Program implementation and administration
The Hon. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Chairman, House Democratic Caucus, U.S. House of Representatives
Gene Sperling, American Rescue Plan Coordinator and Senior Advisor to the President, The White House
Mayor Levar Stoney, City of Richmond, Commonwealth of Virginia
Moderator: Ylan Q. Mui, Senior Congressional Correspondent, CNBC
11:55 a.m. | Closing
Glenn H. Hutchins, Chairman, North Island and North Island Ventures
12:00 p.m. | Event adjourns
Brookings requires all staff and visitors to show proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 via vaccines approved by the FDA or WHO. They may present it in person upon arrival.
