The phrase “fiscal cliff” refers to automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that are set to take place on January 1. They’re estimated to have an economic impact worth over $600 billion. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says it could send the economy “toppling back into recession.” Can President Obama and House Republicans reach an agreement before the Jan. 1 deadline?
Checking in on the Fiscal Cliff
The phrase "fiscal cliff" refers to automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that are set to take place on January 1. They're estimated to have an economic impact worth over $600 billion. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says it could send the economy "toppling back into recession." Can President Obama and House Republicans reach an agreement before the Jan. 1 deadline?
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Guests:
Laura D'Andrea Tyson, S.K. and Angela Chan professor of global management at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley; former chair of President Bill Clinton's council of Economic Advisers (1993-1995); currently a member of the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness
David Wessel, economics editor at the Wall Street Journal and author of the books "Red Ink: Inside the High-Stakes Politics of the Federal Budget" and "In Fed We Trust: Ben Bernanke's War on the Great Panic"
Alan Viard, economist and resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute; former senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and a senior economist on the President's Council of Economic Advisors under George W. Bush