The odds ... increasingly favor a revival in job creation, |
The one certainty is that the resolution of the nation's demographic challenge will require hard choices and that the future performance of the economy will depend on those choices. |
The physical assets of such a firm comprise a small proportion of its asset base, ... Trust and reputation can vanish overnight. A factory cannot. |
the possibility that the forces from Asia might damp activity and prices by more than is desirable. |
The present policy path makes current promises, at least in real terms, highly conjectural, |
The president and I have not discussed this, but I greatly appreciate his confidence, ... I have been privileged to be appointed by five presidents to various positions. If President Bush nominates me, and the Senate confirms his choice, I would have every intention of serving. |
the pressure to enlarge the pool of skilled workers also requires that we strengthen the significant contributions of other types of training and educational programs, especially for those with lesser skills. |
The probability of an unwelcome substantial fall in inflation over the next few quarters, though minor, exceeds that of a pickup in inflation. |
The problem that exists here is that unless we can close the gap between supply and demand by accelerating productivity, which we are doing in part, then the prosperity that everyone is experiencing would be put in great jeopardy, |
The problems that we have seen are, in one sense, more domestic than they are international, |
The rapid growth and increasing importance of derivative instruments in the risk profile of many large banks has been a particular concern, |
The rate of growth of productivity cannot increase indefinitely, ... While there appears to be considerable expectation in the business community, and possibly Wall Street, that the productivity acceleration has not yet peaked, experience advises caution. |
The rates of return on investment in the same new technologies are correspondingly less in Europe and Japan because businesses there face higher costs of displacing workers than we do, ... Moreover, because our costs of dismissing workers are lower, the potential costs of hiring and the risks associated with expanding employment are less. |
The ratio of the number of workers contributing to social security to the number of beneficiaries has declined to the point where maintaining the annuity value of benefits on retirement at a level well in excess of accumulated contributions has become extremely unlikely. |
The recent data still exhibit deterioration, ... The question of most fundamental importance is how long will that continue and where will it spread, and where will the stampede of buffalo stamp all over us before we can stem this. |