in 2021 ” christopher j. waller member board of governors of the federal reserve system at “ how monetary policy got behind the curve and how to get back : a policy conference ” hoover institution stanford, california may 6, 2022 figure 1 source. u. s. department of commerce, bureau of economic analysis. table 1 comparison of 2021 q4 / q4 pce price inflation forecasts ( percent ) month sep median blue chip consensus march 2. 4 2. 3 june 3. 4 3. 2 september 4. 2 4. 3 december 5. 3 5. 2 source. federal reserve board, summary of economic projections and blue chip economic indicators. table 2 change in nonfarm payroll employment : initial report and current estimate ( thousands ) month initial report current estimate revision august september october november december total source. u. s. department of labor, bureau of labor statistics.

mr. greenspan examines the process by which former centrally planned economies are embracing free markets remarks by the chairman of the board of governors of the us federal reserve system, mr. alan greenspan, at the woodrow wilson award dinner of the woodrow wilson international center for scholars in new york on 10 / 6 / 97. on november 9, 1989, the berlin wall came down, symbolizing the end of an experiment in economic and social policy that began more than four decades earlier with the division of the states of western and central europe into market economies and those governed by state central planning. at the end of world war ii, as winston churchill put it, “ from stettin in the baltic to trieste in the adriatic an iron curtain... descended across the continent. ” aside from the soviet union itself, the economies on the soviet side of the “ curtain ” had been, in the prewar period, similar to the market - based economies on the western side. over four decades both types of economies developed with limited interaction across the dividing line. it was as close to a controlled experiment in the viability of economic systems as could ever be implemented. the results, unequivocally in favor of market economies, have had far - reaching consequences. the long - standing debate between the virtues of economies organized around free markets and those governed by centrally planned socialism is essentially at an end. to be sure, there are still a few who still support the old fashioned socialism - - but for the vast majority of professed socialists it is now a highly diluted socialism, an amalgam of social equity and the efficiency of the market, often called market socialism. the verdict on rigid central planning has been rendered, and it is generally appreciated to have been unequivocally negative. over the last seven years, with the soviet bloc books now open, we of course have learned much about how communist economics worked, or, more to the point, did not. but the biggest surprise is what the aftermath of the four - decade experiment has been teaching us about how and why our own western economies and societies function, or, perhaps more exactly, refreshing our own long - dormant memories of the process. economists have had considerable experience this century in observing how market economies converted to centrally planned ones but until recently have had virtually no exposure in the opposite direction. ironically, in aiding in the process of implementing the latter, we are being forced to more fully understand the roots of our own system. much