Dallas Fed President Say Wearing Mask Is 'Most Important' To Economic Recovery, Job Growth

KEY POINTS

Robert Kaplan, president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, said wearing a mask "is the most important thing" the public can do to encourage economic growth in the U.S.
He pointed to the recent surge of coronavirus cases in the U.S. South and West as major contributors to the recent slowdown in job growth
Kaplan said "broad mask-wearing and good execution of these health care protocols" will be key to get the U.S. economy growing

Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan on Monday offered a simple answer to help job and economic growth: wear a mask.

“If we all wore masks, I think that’s probably the most important thing we can do right now to make sure that rebound is faster, not slowing,” Kaplan told the National Press Club.

Kaplan was asked about how the U.S. can keep job and economic growth steady after a two-month surge of job creation. He said while it was strong from the end of April through the second week of June, job creation began to slow down going into July. Kaplan blamed part of this on the recent surge of coronavirus cases in the South and West regions of the U.S.

These echoed statements he made Friday in an appearance on Fox Business.

“We would have a lower unemployment rate, we'd grow faster, and we'd be far less likely to slow some of our reopenings,” Kaplan said.

“But we've been uneven so far on our mask-wearing.

“If there was one recommendation you'd probably hear from me, while monetary and fiscal policy have a key role to play, the primary economic policy from here is broad mask-wearing and good execution of these health care protocols.

“If we do that, we'll grow faster.”