Excerpts after running AG's speech through the Babel translation site.
AG:
"The American economy through year-end continued to perform in an
outstanding manner. Economic growth remained solid, and financial
markets, after freezing up temporarily following the Russian default, are again channeling an ample flow of capital to businesses and households."
Translation:
Whew! We made it through this autumn.
AG:
"The situation in Brazil and its potential for spilling over to reduce
demand in other emerging market economies also constitute a possible
source of downside risk for demand in the United States. So
far, markets seem to have reacted reasonably well ."
Translation:
Whew! I thought we'd have to juice money again but so far so good.
AG:
"Though the pace of economic expansion is widely expected to moderate
as 1999 unfolds, signs of an appreciable slowdown as yet remain scant."
Translation:
I hope Jerry Jordan is wrong and we haven't overreacted.
AG:
"But, while asset values are very important to the economy and so
must be carefully monitored and assessed by the Federal Reserve,
they are not themselves a target of monetary policy. We need to react
to changes in financial markets, as we did this fall, but our objective is the maximum sustainable growth of the U.S. economy, not particular levels of asset prices."
Translation:
I'd rather fight the inflation-devil I know than the deflation-devil
I don't know.
AG:
"Some moderation in economic growth, however, might be required
to sustain the expansion."
Translation:
Just kidding, I won't raise rates without sufficient warning in May.
AG:
"The recent behavior of profits also underlines the unusual nature of
the rebound in equity prices and the possibility that the recent
performance of the equity markets will have difficulty in being sustained."
Translation:
Can't believe the market is 65% higher after my "irrational exuberance" speech! What a joke!
AG:
"We were not attempting to prop up equity prices, nor did we
plan to continue to ease rates until equity prices recovered, as
some have erroneously inferred."
Translation:
Hell, we lowered rates to help Goldman's IPO. I'll do
it again if I have too.
AG:
"It is important not to undermine the highly sensitive ongoing process
of reallocation of capital from less to more productive uses."
Translation:
I'll now use sleight-of-hand and talk about productivity and trade
restrictions, as if they have anything to do with current market
conditions. Duh.
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