Local Economist: U.S. Will "Get Through" Tough Economic Situation

Apr 30, 2008 by Eric Ray

(KCPW News) The United States has been through tough economic times in the past and the nation's current struggles aren't cause for major concern, according to Zions Bank economist Jeff Thredgold.

"I make the case that we do this every ten years, but it's something different every ten years. If you step back roughly 20 years ago, the crash of 1987, the DOW falls 22% in one day. The federal reserve comes in and starts cutting rates. The government talks about stimulus programs. We got through that. The DOW is about 6.5 times higher than it was at that point," says Thredgold.

Thredgold also points to the Asian financial crisis and the Russian default on debt in 1997, which led to rate cutting and government talk of stimulus.

The Zions Bank economist advises people watch the stock market for signs of a rebound.

"You got the DOW at 12,830. If the DOW right now were at 7,000, or 8,000 or 9,000 it would tell you that financial investors expect economic problems to be with us for a long time to come. That they are very severe. The fact that we've seen the DOW rebound substantially over the last four months suggests that we'll get through this," says Thredgold.

Thredgold says while Utah has slipped a bit in the economic rankings of the states, he expects improvement to the state's real estate market this year.

Part of the Dewey Lecture Series, Thredgold will be speaking at the City Library on Saturday at 7:30pm. Admission is free or you can listen to the speech live on KCPW. Click here to listen to the Midday Metro conversation with Thredgold.

Email to a friendPosted in KCPW Newsroom. Copyright 2008 KCPW