Diane Swonk
Diane Swonk
bit coming fed fireworks friday news seen washington
After the fireworks we've seen coming out of Washington on Friday and Monday, I think the Fed would like to be the least bit of news this week.
activity bit confidence consumer february grain january numbers partial quite recovery strong
I think you have to take the January numbers with a bit of a grain of salt. Consumer confidence is still quite strong and I think we'll see at least a partial recovery in activity in February and through the spring.
bit burden carry economy feet keeping kick
kick back, put up his feet for a bit and not have to carry the burden of keeping the economy going alone.
bit builders everybody hope human money nature near relative time
By the end of the year, there will be some builders with some overhang of construction relative to demand, ... Now's the time when you'd hope everybody cools off a bit and moderates their building, but that's not human nature -- and it's not the way for homebuilders to make money in the near term.
effect running slowing winter
We weren't running our heaters very much this winter and this would have the effect of slowing down production,
fed sure today
What the Fed told us today is, we don't think we are done yet and we are not sure when we will be done.
both crippled economy efficient energy expected growth katrina less quarter remarkably resilient response shocks
It was an extraordinary quarter for productivity growth. Katrina was expected to lop off growth and give us a crippled and less efficient quarter. Instead, it showed how remarkably resilient the U.S. economy was both in response to the hurricanes and the energy shocks that accompanied them.
behind creep inflation pressure pressures
Is the pressure on inflation behind us? I think not. Inflationary pressures are not going to surge overnight, but they'll creep up.
bad clearly concerned cycle difference fed gets good growth overly stage
There's a difference between good growth and bad growth at this stage of the cycle and this is clearly not the kind of inflationary growth that the Fed gets overly concerned about,
driving early economic growth less means played playing role twice
Even more than the early 1990s, this is a jobless recovery. Productivity growth is playing twice the role it played in the early 1990s in driving economic gains, which means less payrolls growth.
basis fed given good hesitate insurance policy question reason spend
There's no question that, given the right circumstances, the Fed wouldn't hesitate to spend 175 basis points. But they really have to have a good reason to put an insurance policy out there.
hand reactive reason tip
There's no reason to tip your hand because they are in a reactive phase.
gained raise saying
There's nothing to be gained by saying anything right now, ... there's a lot of uncertainty... over how long it will have to raise rates.
absorb blows economy fed labor market strong
Like what the Fed has suggested, the U.S. economy was more than strong enough to absorb the blows of Katrina. The labor market is still pretty resilient.