I think we'll see a clear acceleration of refund payments as we get closer to the April deadline, when the checks really start to flow. People tend to procrastinate. |
I think we're headed in the right direction. |
I think [the core rate] will be slower now than six to nine months ago. Business is not passing along all its additional costs. |
I would say that momentum (in the housing market) probably will not continue, since you don't see the same strength in permits that you do in construction, |
If housing is starting to weaken and manufacturing is not turning around, obviously it spells trouble for the economy. |
If I was to guess, it was probably a case of him being shrewd. |
If people lose their jobs, they're not going to go buy a car. |
If the dollar continues to weaken at a controlled pace, it's a net positive for the U.S. economy. |
If the manufacturing sector remains mired in a recession mode for too long, it may be signaling the same for the rest of the economy. Although it may be a bit too early to make that assessment, there should be universal agreement that the ISM outcome certainly does not bode well for the rest of the economy. |
If the war's prospects improve from here, consumer optimism is likely to improve, while if we see further setbacks of the type we experienced this past weekend, then we must be prepared to see a dip in consumer sentiment threatening to slow the pace of consumer spending further. |
If they were looking purely at the fundamentals, this number would not justify an immediate tightening. But if they were certainly looking for a political excuse to raise rates, these numbers certainly give them that right and, in fact, that license to do so. |
If we close the borders and have less undocumented workers, it would put some upward pressure on overall wages. It's no secret business will have to pay workers more money. |
If we see strong average hourly earnings, that would be bad for stocks and bonds because it puts the inflation bogey-man on the front burner. |
If you have productivity growing faster than the economy, how can you expect demand for labor to be all that strong? I'm still hopeful that unemployment won't go much higher than 6.2 percent or 6.3 percent, but where we'll peak is not as important as when we turn around. If we sort of linger at 6.2 percent, that will put some downward pressure on consumer spending. |
In other words, before the end of 2002, the Fed should signal that their upward rate moves were just a warm-up for what we can expect in 2003. |