# Prof. David Backus explains why the GDP isn't the best way to evaluate the economy in the short-term

1 Faculty News May 12, 2014 ![U.S. News and World Report logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/con_030501.jpg?itok=1EF-s0wb)>

Excerpt from [US News](http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/mutual-funds/articles/2014/05/12/is-the-economy-returning-to-an-old-normal) -- "'The GDP – its bottom-line, short-term estimates are incredibly noisy, and for that reason, people tend to see the GDP recovers more quickly than employment, so that hasn’t served so well,' [Backus](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/david-backus) says."

[Read more](http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/mutual-funds/articles/2014/05/12/is-the-economy-returning-to-an-old-normal)