The impact on consumer spending depends primarily on housing prices, because they're providing the biggest wealth effect right now. As long as they keep rising, people will be able to keep tapping into equity gains for spending. For now, this report just represents consumer grumpiness. |
The tremendous rise in all these costs has been steep enough and has gone on long enough that it's putting an awful lot of pressure on business costs. |
There's no doubt about it there will be a lot of lawsuits (in a down market), ... The industry is well aware that there will be a rash of class-action lawsuits. |
These figures should relieve some of the fears of Fed officials who have been recently sounding the alarm on inflation prospects. |
These figures tell you that the Fed has to keep doing more. If it hadn't been for the energy spike, we'd be talking about real boom-like conditions. |
They could have waited, but they're trying to give us a signal that they're more than just vigilant -- that they're actively seeking to ease monetary policy. |
Those companies are all very tax savvy and they are doing what everybody else would do -- they are bringing the money at a lower cost and using it to fund all sorts of things, ... Ultimately what generates jobs is macroeconomic growth and sound policies, and not a tax break. |
We believe the growth spurt will be less robust than the consensus and that a softening housing market will hold back (growth) throughout the coming year. |
We're at moderately full employment, but not full employment. Anything like 4 or 3.9 percent would have to be viewed as full employment. |
We're not in crisis mode now. |
Whether it's 3.7 percent or 3.9 percent, it's booming, ... I don't think that the Asian effect is hitting us much and the domestic side is good. |