A main theme of the discussion President Rubenstein conducted with Alan B. Krueger, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, at the November meeting of the Economic Club was the implications of the looming fiscal cliff confronting Congress and the Obama Administration. Krueger said his greatest concern about the consequences of a failure by the Administration and Congress to reach a budget deficit agreement is the possible psychological impact such a failure to act could have, especially the uncertainty that would create for households and businesses. In the short term, [the impact of that uncertainty] and the perception that the United States government can’t solve its problems could be considerably larger than just the cash flow effects,” he said.
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