If this gets out of control all of Latin America could suffer. When Brazil sneezes, the rest of Latin America catches a cold. |
If we create [millions of] jobs, as the White House says we will, then real incomes will rise and we can afford to pay for the higher price of energy. If not, it might be a problem. |
If you want to really help the economy right away, the fastest way to do that is to have the government spend the money itself, ... The next step would be to give tax cuts to low- and middle-income people, who are more likely to spend the money. |
Immediately after the terror attacks, we were shell-shocked and stopped doing everything but watching television, |
In the early stage of an economic recovery it is almost normal to see some volatility in consumer confidence because the jobless rate continues to rise, jarring people's confidence, ... However, all the pieces are in place to generate recovery, including healthy spending, robust housing and record low [business] inventories. |
In the summertime, we have a lot of plant shutdowns, especially in the auto industry. Despite that, we saw a drop in initial claims, ... That's indicating that the employment market has not only stabilized, but has begun to improve slightly. |
Inflation is not an issue right now. However, it could be in the future. The Fed will begin to worry about inflation because monetary policy affects the inflation rate with a lag of as much as 18 months to two years, so they need to worry about it now. |
Inventories really being run down to ground, but that means that any increase in demand in the future will be translated into more production and jobs. We're feeling the pain right now, but it means we're more likely to get economic growth starting early next year. |
It boils down to housing affordability; mortgage rates have risen, but they're still historically very low, ... We're continuing to see people who had been sitting on the fence jumping in to take advantage of these low rates before they go back up. |
It clearly tells us that consumers have and will continue to sustain and support economic growth, ... Consumers have really been the backbone of current economic growth and will continue to be a stabilizer for the balance of this year. |
It is unclear how much financial infrastructure has been damaged, ... At least temporarily, the financial system could be frozen, further damaging the economy. |
It was a very balanced statement. Given the current fragile state of the stock market and the economy, they wanted to do nothing which might add to volatility, so they decided to say as little as possible. |
It will have some positive effect, but I don't think there's a strong conviction the stock market rally is going to be sustained. No one is really cashing it in and beginning to spend more money. |
It's going to be very close to zero. |
It's not necessarily a negative, from the point of view of economic growth, ... Even in Washington, D.C., the government work will be made up. |