If you raise interest rates in the face of what you know will be some pretty awful economic numbers, you must have a lot of confidence about the economy's ultimate recovery and a lot of concern about inflation. |
It doesn't seem to me at all appropriate for a secretary of the Treasury to make such comments in any event, |
It raises the odds that the end is near because of the statement that growth appears likely to moderate to a more sustainable pace. It gives a hint that was not in the previous release. They hadn't been quite that specific about the outlook for the economy. |
It's entirely possible you could repeal tax cuts without injuring the economy if you did it carefully, over a period of time, while offsetting it in part by increasing expenditures you knew were coming anyway or thought desirable, ... But you couldn't simply remove the tax cuts altogether right away and avoid significant negative effects to the economy. |
It's entirely possible you could repeal tax cuts without injuring the economy if you did it carefully, over a period of time, while offsetting it in part by increasing expenditures you knew were coming anyway or thought desirable. But you couldn't simply remove the tax cuts altogether right away and avoid significant negative effects to the economy. |
Mortgage rates haven't been significantly lower than the rates we have today since the 1960s. |
My concern is not with a double-dip recession. It's with the likelihood we are gong to be in an extended period of growth below potential, and that would mean rising unemployment. |
My own preference would be for the Fed to state explicitly what it's aiming at, ... That would be helpful in quieting the bond market. But I don't think it's going to happen. |
Not only is he as mentally acute as the average 77-year-old, he's as acute as the average 27-year-old. He has a phenomenal mind and very good judgment, ... People close to the decision-making at the Fed are almost unanimously in great praise of him, as I would be. I think it's a wonderful thing for the Fed and for the country that he's being kept on. |
That wouldn't happen with just any Joe Blow. |
The apparent bubbling up of inflation we saw earlier in the year has quieted down again. Basically it's a picture of inflation staying reasonably tranquil. The Fed should like that. |
The bottom line is that their principal concern is that inflation might go lower, so we'll get the same kind of statement we got last time. |
The environment for passing on higher expenses may be improving. |
The Fed definitely wants the economy to slow. |
The Fed is looking at an economy right now that is growing strongly with upside risks to inflation. |