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 an

alan blinder from princeton, a little more critical, said without lehman he would have given him an "a." how about some who give him a "b." "a" for the crisis. incomplete for 2010 to 2013 according to barry as the cost will be realized over time. a lot of commentary like that and this, from jon riding who says "a" for handling the financial crisis but a "d" for the monetary policy leading up to the crisis. too easy on the way and the continuation of qe. lot of comments on that. >> very interesting. your view tomorrow, will we get the taper or not? >> i think it's lined up. i think the fed if it was a close call in september, when i look at the data right now i think it should be a slam dunk. if i'm wrong i'm wrong in january. i will be right in january. >> cnbc your place to turn for live coverage of the fed decision tomorrow. it will be right here on cnbc 1:50 eastern time tomorrow followed by fed chair ben bernanke's news conference at 2:30. >> thanks, ty, very much. with the fed expected to start tapering soon, maybe tomorrow, maybe january, how should investors position themselves