By Steven Weiner

Forward magazine has a tendency to posture as a know- it-all publication, as befits any serious business journal that purports to offer thought-leadership to its readers. But, occasionally, we are forced to acknowledge that others know more than we do, and the best course is not just to interview, but to consult with our betters.

Such was the case recently when, through the good offices of the American Council for Capital Formation (ACCF), a group of four senior economists who serve on the ACCF Center for Policy Research Board of Scholars, including one winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics, gathered to discuss U.S. economic policy of the last 18 months. The ACCF was a particularly good choice, not only because of its blue ribbon list of ACCF scholars, but because of its mission: To bring “the message to U.S. and international policymakers, the media, and the public that a nation’s economic strength and stability depend upon well-thought-out economic, regulatory, and environmental policies to promote capital formation, economic growth, and a higher standard of living for all.”

The view of our four economists (see their brief biographies in “Our Panel,” Page 15) is gloomy. In their view, with almost no exceptions, economic policies adopted by the administration and Congress are seriously flawed and are undermining the basis for our long-term prosperity. While the Federal Reserve Bank is generally praised by the economists, the rest of the government is not.

Questions were posed to the panel by Margo Thorning, Ph.D., the ACCF’s senior vice president and chief economist, and, in a few instances, by the editor of this magazine. Here’s what the panel had to say:

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