joining us are barbara marcin and alan blinder. he's author of the book after the music stops. thank you both for joining us. alan, what do you think? were you surprised by the news this week. >> i wouldn't say shocked. everybody knew that tapering was coming. i didn't think it would come this week. i thought it might come in january or even march. the timing, to me, was a surprise and suggested that the fed is pretty optimistic about the outlook for the economy. >> what about you? are you optimistic? do you think the economy is strong enough to stand on its two feet. >> i'm optimistic. the fed is forecasting about 2% next year. to me it's a stretch. the numbers that just came in on friday about the gdp revision is good news. >> what concerns you the most? the jobs picture. >> yes, it's definitely the jobs picture. fiscal policy is doing nothing for the jobs picture. it's a negative. it's less than a negative than it's been before. that leaves the ball in the fed last and the fed has been doing what it can. as ben bernanke and everybody realizes it's limited. they keep buying a