David Altig Named Research Director of the FRB of Atlanta

David Altig and I differ politically, but even so we almost always agree on issues involving monetary policy (which makes him very smart). The Atlanta Fed made a great choice. Congratulations David:

Economics Blogger Gets Senior Fed Job, by Greg Io, WSJ Econ Blog:  Economics blogging can be good for your career. David Altig, author of the Macroblog has just been named research director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. ... His blog postings reflect a mainstream Fed view on key macroeconomic questions of the day.

In an interview, Mr. Altig said he doesn’t know if the blog will continue in his new job. “I‘ve been at it for a while, and I enjoy it but I have to take the lay of the land there and see whether my responsibilities are consistent with keeping it up or not.” ...

As research director, Mr. Altig will attend Federal Open Market Committee meetings with his president, Dennis Lockhart. ...

Comments

[Andy Buckingham]

David
Being a novice to the economic complexity can you please explain to me the following:

When does the Fed. Reserve acknowledge a recession. What statisics do you look at to realize our current and future situation. I realize this is a complicated question so please do your best to give me a short answer. Again, realize that I am not an economist but really want to be able to evaluate the best I can.

Sincerely
Andy