[There's a reason why politicians are telling the American people to do the right thing and get to the mall.] Consumer spending is the 800-pound gorilla when you're talking about the economy, ... It's two-thirds of the economy. |
Housing prices have been an important source of keeping wealth and have dampened the effects of the weak stock market. If they turned down in value that could jeopardize recovery. |
It's critical that the labor market start to show unambiguous signs of strength. It's a necessary condition for the recovery to be on a self-sustaining path. |
The job market has been improving; it's just been very, very slow. But we are starting to turn the corner and are likely to see job creation [get] a little better as we turn into 2003. |
We think we're going to see recovery by second half of the year and that growth can be quite brisk, |
You're not going to turn this thing around with platitudes. There are no magic bullets. |