Key Reagan Adviser: Recession Could Be Long and Severe

Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008 3:31 p.m. EST

Martin Feldstein, chairman of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisers, says that evidence is mounting that a recession began in December or January.
And unlike many economists who say any recession will be mild and brief, the Harvard economist wrote that there is a good chance it will be long and severe.

That’s largely because Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts are having little effect, he argued this week in The Wall Street Journal.

"If a recession does occur, it could last longer and be more painful than the past several downturns because of differences in its origin and character,â€