Catlett: Outlook Hopeful, Still Daunting
Wednesday, 27 January 2010 00:00
In his keynote address to the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Business Outlook Summit today, economist Lowell Catlett downplayed the severity of current recession and spoke optimistically about the future. Catlett, who is the dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Studies at New Mexico State University, said that he’s not making light of anyone’s struggles. But Catlett said some good economic news has been ignored in favor of the bad. He also said comparisons to the Great Depression go overboard, calling them “an insult to my father’s generation that went through” it. The national gross domestic product fell by half during the Great Depression, Catlett said. By comparison — and despite all the gloomy news — GDP increased 0.4 percent in 2008. Catlett predicted figures will show it rose again in 2009. Based on the length of prior recessions, Catlett predicted the current one will soon end. He also noted that 66 percent more people can afford a house today than in 1980.
“What drove us in, is going to help pull us out,” Catlett said, referring to the housing market collapse that precipitated the recession.
