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Julie Smith, professor of economics, is quoted in an ABC News FiveThirtyEight story that discusses state and local governments feeling the pinch of budget shortfalls during a time when COVID-19 spikes continue to throw the economy into chaos.
FiveThirtyEight, sometimes rendered as 538, is an ABC News website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics and economics.
Smith provided insight about the possibility of longer periods of high unemployment leading to continued financial pain for many households, and the role the federal unemployment extension plays: “Cutting back or ending the extension would cause many people’s incomes to decline dramatically, leading them with much less money to spend—which could make a big dent in GDP,” she said.
Smith’s areas of specialization include macroeconomics, applied econometrics, and monetary policy.