Dana Johnson
Dana Johnson
Dana Johnsonis an American writer and Associate Professor at the University of Southern California. Honors include the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, and being named a nominee for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. Her writing has appeared in Callaloo, The Iowa Review, and elsewhere...
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The affordability of light vehicles has been quite stable over the past ten quarters. Family incomes have been rising faster than vehicle prices, but higher interest rates have increased the cost of financing a new car.
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I expected our index to tick lower in March, as the effects from the Super Bowl and mild winter weather faded. Looking ahead, our index probably will settle into a lower range, as the local economy struggles to overcome restructuring in the auto sector, higher interest rates, and elevated gasoline prices.
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I don't think one 50 basis point move (by the Fed) is likely to be enough. It's going to be very hard for the stock market to move ahead. Profit margins are not going to be expanding. There's going to be nothing to offset the higher interest rates.
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It's certainly a concerning reading. Most of what we are seeing there is the impact of higher natural gas and other energy prices.
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It's a little more evidence that growth in the economy has downshifted a bit, but that's what happens when higher energy costs take money from people's pockets.
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Affordability has deteriorated over the past year because consumers are buying more expensive cars, financing a larger portion of those purchases and paying higher interest rates on car loans.
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This report does not add to the case that there's a visible slowing in the economy. It keeps (the Fed) directly on path to tighten in May and leaves the debate on whether they will tighten in June certain to be a very lively one.
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This reminds me of the famous Sherlock Holmes mystery, where the dog that didn't bark was the key. It was what Greenspan didn't say more than what he did say that got the market excited. People were ready to hear a more upbeat reading on the economy than he gave.
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To me, the one-two punch of the breakthrough of health care issues (with GM and the UAW) and this makes me feel better about the economy overall,
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To me, he was waiting for permission, ... It was okay. To see him not with the tubes and wires all over him. Just to know he's not suffering.
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I wouldn't guess it will look real great.
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I guess I'm not surprised the unions are unhappy with the adjustments they are being asked to make, and I am not surprised they banded together to try to get a better deal,
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The reality is that many other people working in the auto industry are going to be asked to make painful adjustments, too, and a lot of people are going to say it's not worth it.
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We did have a stumble. It was related a lot to the hurricanes, and it's very clear that the economy is bouncing back nicely in the first quarter.