Business economists favor increased federal spending

A majority of business economists think the recovering economy will benefit from much more government spending despite concerns in financial markets that the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief measure Congress recently enacted could ignite inflation

That's the view that emerged from a survey released Monday by the National Association for Business Economics of 205 forecasters. 

Yet among the business economists surveyed by the NABE, 41 percent describe the government's current fiscal policy, including such spending, as “about right,” and an additional 25% call it too restrictive. Only 34% characterize the current fiscal policy as too stimulative for the economy, though that figure is up sharply from the 17% who said so in August, when the NABE conducted its previous survey.

Only 12% of the NABE economists who responded to the survey felt the Fed would stick with its forecast that it will keep its key rate near zero through at least 2023 to provide continued support to the economy, ABC News reports.