Rising inequality jeopardizes economic recovery says Federal Reserve’s Sarah Bloom Raskin

A top ranking member of the United States Federal Reserve cautioned economists this week that growing inequality within the US was worsening the odds of a quick return to the conditions of the pre-recession days.

Fed Board of Governors member Sarah Bloom Raskin was in Washington, DC on Thursday, and during an address before the Society of Government Economists and the National Economists Club she said the widening gap between the rich and poor is just one of the issues being investigated as attempts are made to rebound from the financial crisis of 2009.

“In my view, the large and increasing amount of inequality in income and wealth, which has been an ongoing development for decades, may have exacerbated the crisis and I think more research is required to determine whether it may also pose a significant headwind to the recovery from the crisis for years to come,” Raskin told the crowd. “So, while I am hopeful that pressures will ease further as home prices continue to rebound, I also believe that some of the restraints on the recovery may be quite long-lasting.”

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor

via Federal Reserve: rising inequality jeopardizes economic recovery — RT USA.

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FRB: Speech–Raskin, Aspects of Inequality in the Recent Business Cycle–April 18, 2013.