And so a gap that might exist that's between blacks and whites, or between Latinos and other whites who are not Hispanic, is something that can persist because of the adverse consequences for the more recent generation of the experiences of their parents and grandparents. University of Albany. State University, New York. With teaching jobs more plentiful than they've been in years, foreign students flocking to our shores to get their PhD's and then jobs in the US as economists. We thought we'd give the last word to Robert Gordon, the productivity maven, who thought the current expansion would continue for a while, but wasn't willing to predict a new economy or anything long-term, for that matter.
Economists are lousy forecasters.
We all stay in universities and leave it to people who we don't respect to make forecasts a year or six months ahead. Serious economists don't try to forecast. You can't do it. Too many unexpected things happened. In the 70's, we had the oil shocks.