In this episode of Berkeley Talks, Martha Olney, a teaching professor of economics at UC Berkeley, discusses the economic forecast — how the post-pandemic U.S. economy might compare to that of the so-called roaring 1920s.

"When I studied the 1920s, I was really focused on consumer spending, particularly household spending for durable goods — cars, appliances, furniture, jewelry — and the role of installment credit in making a boom in consumer durables possible," Olney said on UCLA's Forecast Direct in January.

But, she said, today, much of the nation's consumer spending is on services — going to restaurants, getting a haircut — which lengthens the time it takes to recover from a recession.

Listen to the episode and read a transcript on Berkeley News.

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