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Economists available to comment on tomorrow's inflation data

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Ahead of tomorrow’s release of inflation data for the month of October, economists from Northwestern University are available to speak with media on what the Federal Reserve can do to curb rising consumer prices.

Mark Witte is a professor and director of undergraduate studies in the economics department at Northwestern. His research focuses on applied questions in macroeconomics and public finance. His main interests are in consumption theory and topics in taxation. Witte can be reached at mwitte@northwestern.edu or 847-491-8481.

Quote from Professor Witte

Once the governors of the Federal Reserve feel that the economy is solid, they can start raising interest rates. Doing this will accomplish two things. One, it will slow down the economy a bit, which should put some downward pressure on wage growth and inflation. Two, it will show everyone that the Fed intends to keep inflation low, which will itself get people to reduce their demand for higher wages and get businesses to slow their markup of prices. We should remember a similar situation during the Korean War — we had a rise in inflation largely due to strong demand, which abated once the war ended.”


Robert Gordon is the Stanley G. Harris Professor of Economics at Northwestern. A macroeconomist, his primary interests are in unemployment, inflation, and both the long-term and cyclical aspects of labor productivity. He is the author of “The Rise and Fall of American Growth” and a textbook in intermediate macroeconomics, now in its 12th edition. He is a distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association, and a fellow of the Econometric Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at rjg@northwestern.edu.