Progress Towards strongEconomic Stabilitystrong - nber.org.pdfVIP

This PDF is a selection from an out-of-print volume from the National Bureau of Economic Research Volume Title: The Business Cycle in a Changing World Volume Author/Editor: Arthur F. Burns Volume Publisher: NBER Volume ISBN: 0-870-14200-3 Volume URL: /books/burn69-1 Publication Date: 1969 Chapter Title: Progress Towards Economic Stability Chapter Author: Arthur F. Burns Chapter URL: /chapters/c1176 Chapter pages in book: (p. 101 - 128) THREE Pro gress Towards Economic Stability THE AMERICAN people have of late been more conscious of the business cycle, more sensitive to every wrinkle of economic curves, more alert to the possible need for contra- cyclical action on the part of government, than ever before in our history. Minor changes of employment or of productivity or of the price level, which in an earlier generation would have gone unnoticed, are nowadays followed closely by laymen as well as experts. This sensitivity to the phenomena of recession and inflation is a symptom of an increased public awareness of both the need for and the attainability of economic progress. It is precisely because so much of current industrial and gov- ernmental practice can be better in the future that our meet- ings this year are focused on the broad problem of improving the performance of the American economy. However, as we go about the task of appraisal and criticism, it will be well to dis- cipline our impatience for reform. In the measure that we avoid exaggerating our nations failures or understating its suc- cesses, we shall make it easier for ourselves as well as for econ- Presidential address delivered at the Seventy-Second Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, Washington, D.C., December 28, 1959. Reprinted, by permission, from American Economic Review, March 1960. 102 The Business Cycle in a Changing World omists in other countries to see current needs and develop- ments in a just perspective.