Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (BPEA) provides academic and business economists, government officials, and members of the financial and business communities with timely research on current economic issues. Contents: Editors' Summary The Labor Market in the Great Recession By Michael W. L. Elsby (University of Michigan), Bart Hobijn (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco), and Ay egül ahin (Federal Reserve Bank of New York) The Income- and Expenditure- Side Estimates of U.S. Output Growth By Jeremy J. Nalewaik (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System) The Rug Rat Race By Garey Ramey and Valerie A. Ramey (University of California, San Diego) The Crisis By Alan Greenspan (Greenspan Associates LLC) The Initial Impact of the Crisis on Emerging Market Countries By Olivier J. Blanchard (International Monetary Fund and MIT), Mitali Das (International Monetary Fund), and Hamid Faruqee (International Monetary Fund) Geographic Variation in Health Care: The Role of Private Markets By Tomas J. Philipson (University of Chicago), Seth A. Seabury (RAND Corporation), Lee M. Lockwood (University of Chicago), Dana P. Goldman (University of Southern California), and Darius Lakdawalla (Univeresity of Southern California)