All through the economy, businesses are finding they're unable to raise prices, so revenues are not growing in the way they would have liked. Without revenue growth, they're not going to grow profits. The only way to grow profits then is to cut costs, and the only way to do that is to not hire workers. |
Businesses are replacing computers, but they're not expanding -- they're improving what they already do. It may even let them get by with fewer workers. |
Consumer spending was really slowing down a lot in August and September. We're entering the fourth quarter on a weak note. |
Contrary to what people in the market are saying, inflation is not a problem to the Fed, ... because an economic slowdown is invariably followed by a rise in inflationary pressures. |
Debt is not in itself going to be a cause of contraction in consumer spending, but it could exacerbate any negative change that does occur. |
For the last few months or so sales seem to have flattened out. This may be the beginning of a sideways movement. The rise in short-term interest rates and higher prices tend to slow down the turnover of houses. |
He laid down the same line that the FOMC has been following. There was very little new or different. |
He's not ready for the wheelchair yet. |
If there were a quick resolution to the Iraq confrontation, there would be brief euphoria, but we would come back to basics, which are that companies are not making enough money to meet profit expectations, their balance sheets have a lot of debt, and there's not a lot of room for expansion. |
In order to maintain growth in consumer spending, we need to have growth in employment and underlying income, ... Without that, we'll see a slowdown in consumption -- which is what I expect to happen. |
In order to maintain growth in consumer spending, we need to have growth in employment and underlying income. Without that, we'll see a slowdown in consumption -- which is what I expect to happen. |
It (the fourth quarter GDP report) has no influence on next week's decision, so it really depends on what they learn about the economy over the next couple of months. |
It's a bit difficult to interpret the data because of revisions. It does appear that the export situation continues to get worse. Imports are flattening out, but exports are decreasing. And this will act as a drag on economic activity. |
It's a very thin market, ... People don't want to take any risk because of the lack of liquidity. |
It's a very thin market. People don't want to take any risk because of the lack of liquidity. |