Moderate Inflation Seen, Cost to the Nation Cited
Inflation should remain moderate for the forseeahle future, but it will result in lost output and high unemployment under present government policies, three economists predicted yesterday.</br></br>Inflation should hover between 1 and 6 percent through next year, barring any unexpected shocks, they said in a forecast that is similar to those made by government and other private economists. The forecast was contained in a report written for the liberal think-tank Center for National Policy by Otto Eck-stein, a former member of the Council of Economic Advisers; Robert Gordon of Northwestern University; and Joel Popkin, a former CEA senior economist.</br></br>Attempts at fighting inflation over the past four year have cost $700 billion, or $0,000 lor every American, the report said.</br></br>"Unemployment in excess of 10 percent imposed major social costs on the 12 million immediately affected individuals each month, destroy- ing for many families a sense of economic security, lowering worker selfesteem and making it virtually impossible for the young entrants into the labor force to find employment opportunities worthy of their education,Û Eckstein said.</br></br>In addition to the recession, Eckstein said that declining world oil prices, lower farm prices, the strength of the dollar, and slowly rising wages have contributed to the decline of inflation from 13 percent three years ago to less than 4 percent this year.