Phil > The US is leading, showing the way, as usual, "growing their economy".
Just as you said -- and without inflation. Things couldn't be better. And as for a bit of debt here and there or a persistent and worsening negative trade balance, that's completely irrelevant, in fact, we don't even want to hear that stuff mentioned.
story.news.yahoo.com
>>U.S. industrial output grew strongly last month while producer prices fell at the sharpest rate in 1-1/2 years amid tumbling energy prices, according to reports suggesting healthy, noninflationary growth.
U.S. factories, mines and utilities boosted production by a more-than-expected 0.8 percent in December, leading to a 4.1 percent gain for all of 2004, the best annual showing in four years, a Federal Reserve report showed on Friday.
"It looks like the economy is still quite healthy and the Fed is probably following the appropriate course," said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards and Sons in St. Louis. "The economy doesn't need low interest rates."
Christopher Low, chief economist at FTN Financial in New York, said the report suggested U.S. business productivity was still registering healthy gains, since the number of hours workers put in on the job last month had barely budged.
While the expansion appears to be on solid ground, it has yet to generate a rise in prices for most consumer products.<< |
