1. Sustaining the recovery. Challenges on the supply and the demand side
WEMD Title Page
Sustaining the recovery.
Challenges on the supply and the demand side
Olivier Blanchard
January 3, 2009

2. 1. The Supply Side: Potential Output
Direct legacy: Scrambling rather than cleansing ?
Weak banks and tight lending for awhile
SMEs and growth
Indirect:
A more regulated financial sector.
More stable but lower growth? The EM experience
Changes in composition:
Less housing, less real estate and finance
More net exports here (US), less there (EMs)
More productivity growth here (US), less there. (EMs)

3. From past financial crises. Level loss in output 3
The evidence
From past financial crises. Level loss in output
Different this time? Looking at the U.S.:
Evidence from productivity growth during the crisis
Two ways of looking at it
Evidence from output and inflation
Using evidence from output, inflation, capacity utilization
Not so good news

4. Following Banking Crises, Output Losses are Significant and Sustained
(per capital GDP; percent deviation from pre-crisis trend)
\\DATA1\WEO\PPT\2009\WEMD\9Sep\OUT-FIG44-Banking-Currency-Fancharts.xls
\\DATA1\WEO\PPT\2009\HFaruqee\8Aug\Argentina_Speech\Output_ARG.xls
Daniel Leigh
Figure reports mean difference from pre-crisis trend (over t-10 to t-3); t=-1 normalized to 0; crisis begins at t=0.
Inner shading indicates 90% confidence interval for the mean; outer shading indicate inter-quartile range.

5. US: Behavior of output per hour during recessions
(index=100 at cyclical peak, t=0)
Output per Hour
(in percent; cumulative residuals)
\\DATA1\WEO\PPT\2009\OBlanchard\12Dec\AEA\Potential_GDP.xls Contact: Roberto Garcia-Saltos
\\DATA1\WEO\PPT\2009\OBlanchard\12Dec\AEA\US_productivity_regression.xls Contact: Prakash Kannan
1/ x-axis measured in quarters; 0 denotes peak in output; diamond markers indicate trough of recession).

6. U.S. GDP and Potential GDP Forecasts Versus WEO April 20076
U.S. GDP and Potential GDP Forecasts Versus WEO April 2007
(indices; potential GDP 2007=1)
\\DATA1\WEO\PPT\2009\OBlanchard\12Dec\AEA\Potential_GDP.xls Contact: Roberto Garcia-Saltos 6

7. Increase in saving, more so here (US consumers) than elsewhere. 7
2. The Demand Side
Increase in saving, more so here (US consumers) than elsewhere.
For the moment, partly offset through fiscal, but not forever.
Textbook adjustment:
Lower interest rates, more so here than elsewhere.
Higher aggregate demand.
Induced exchange rate adjustment.
Increase in NX here, decrease in NX there.

8. What will U.S. Consumers Do?8
What will U.S. Consumers Do?
U.S. Household Saving Ratio
(ratio to disposable income)
\\Data1\weo\PPT\2009\OBlanchard\12Dec\AEA\US_Cons_Income.xls Contact Jaewoo Lee for VAR Projection. 8

9. Serious Complications:9
Serious Complications:
Room to decrease interest rates is limited.
Back to the savings glut.
Alternatives: Structural policies?
Increasing investment. (Green investment? Not enough.)
Decrease saving where desirable.
Implied exchange rate adjustments.
Delicate combination. What if not?

10. (from breakeven inflation)
Real Interest Rates
(from breakeven inflation)
\\DATA1\WEO\PPT\2009\OBlanchard\12Dec\AEA\breakeven_inflation.xls
U.S.
Euro area
(5-yr)

11. END