It's Big Ben vs. Gentle Ben.
I don't necessarily think it'll be a knockout punch, but it'll deliver a blow to economic growth in 2005.
Torrid economic growth normally results in torrid job growth. And that will probably flash red for Fed-watchers.
You can't deny it was impressive and desirable. But at the same time you have to throw in unsustainable.
I think the tide is turning in favor of the employee or job seeker versus the company.
That (pulling back on lending) is a lot of what you're seeing now. Then you exacerbate the situation by having skyrocketing energy and health care costs, and you start to see why businesses may not be investing as much as we originally thought they would.
Constraints in labor markets generally result in higher inflation, which would be met by a prolonged rate-hiking campaign by the Fed.
It appears as if every company doing business in the Southeast will jump on the Hurricane Frances, Charley and Tropical Storm Gaston bandwagons for their weaker third-quarter performance.
History tells us that the Fed has always overshot its tightening goal -- central bankers like to know the cork is firmly implanted in the bottle so that the inflation genie doesn't sneak out. The worst thing a central bank can do when fighting inflation is fall behind the curve. Therefore, we are fairly comfortable with our Street-high estimate.
Presidential Quotes: Iconic Quotes from United States Presidents