There are different flavors of recession. You can get into some pretty dark scenarios pretty quickly.

Yes. I don't think it would be appropriate at this point to raise taxes on anyone, certainly not in 2011.

They called me the sexiest economist in America, and that was years ago, when I had hair and body mass and my teeth were shiny.

The discussion in Washington has changed dramatically. I mean, it's no longer a question of should we address entitlements - it's no longer a question of do we need to reduce spending in the future.

Predicting recessions is indeed a dark art, but I think we are several years away from the next one.

There are different flavors of recession. You can get into some pretty dark scenarios pretty quickly.

It is hard to be enthusiastic about the economy's prospects when house prices are falling: Households spend less, small business owners can't use homes as collateral for loans and local governments are forced to cut jobs and programs as property-tax revenue disappears.