Matt Klein on Promoting US Economic Potential and Balanced Global Trade

The pandemic fiscal response supported a much faster recovery in the US than after the financial crisis, but price levels and the federal deficit surged. Households and businesses, tired of high interest rates and cumulative price increases, must now contend with a tariff regime that aims to improve US competitiveness abroad at the risk of higher consumer prices. The Fed meanwhile is trying to restore price stability and preserve the recovery, unsure how much its rate policy is channeling into the economy. In this episode, we talk with journalist Matt Klein, creator of “The Overshoot” newsletter and co-author of the book Trade Wars are Class Wars, about the political appetite for future fiscal stimulus, tariffs’ effectiveness at improving global trade imbalances, and Fed policy in the post-pandemic economy. This interview was recorded live at the City Club of San Francisco on February 12.