Janet Yellen: We can be normal in ‘much shorter order’ than during Great Depression, Recession

Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has said that if the government is successful in supporting people’s incomes during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the economy can be back to normal in a “much shorter order” than during the 1929 Great Depression and after it and the 2007 Great Recession.

Yellen was talking with CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” today.

Show anchor Sara Eisen had asked Yellen if she agreed with people who wonder if this would be a Great Depression-like economic scenario, with the scale of the job losses and the economic toll that’s taking on the US and the human toll and the devastation.

“Well, I think that unemployment rates for a time may go to Depression levels, but this is very different than the Great Depression or the Recession in the US economy that we experienced in 2009 and after,” replied Yellen, according to the interview’s unofficial transcript NBCUniversal, the owner of CNBC, emailed to US and Global News.

She added, “This is — we started with an economy that was in good shape, with the financial sector that was basically sound, and this is a health crisis. It’s having severe economic effects, but if we’re successful in supporting people’s incomes during this time that the government can be, I believe we will be able to get back to a normally functioning economy in much shorter order than during the great depression, after the great depression or even the great recession.”

Eisen then asked Yellen what was a “shorter order” according to her, months or years.

“Well, my hope is that – you know, there’s likely to be some lingering effect that could go on for years, for reasons I earlier explained,” replied Yellen. “But my hope is unemployment will come down to normal levels pretty quickly.”

Watch the full interview of Janet Yellen on CNBC.com, here.