Some say that productivity growth has shifted the Phillips curve inward, in the US and perhaps in some other economies, possibly for a lengthy period, meaning that higher productivity growth would coincide with – or could be made to coincide with - a widespread expectation of solid price stability continuing, allowing lower unemployment without fuelling inflation. – This would be an extremely attractive prospect.
All the papers on the conference program are of direct interest to policymakers and should lead to better-informed policy. I hope we can draw upon this information and the success of the MORE program to explore new and creative ways to address the foreclosure crisis.