Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Box-By-The-Riviera™ who wrote (103897)	5/22/2001 7:41:37 AM
From: craig crawford	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

O'Neill Says U.S. Favors Strong Dollar NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said on Tuesday the Bush administration favors a strong dollar, adding that this policy has proven successful for the United States. However, he was at first ambiguous in an interview on Bloomberg Television when asked how he would respond to U.S. manufacturers who say that the dollar is too strong and is hurting some sector of the U.S. economy. ``I would like to see some evidence of successful engagements to try to change the course of events, and I would be interested in the evidence,'' O'Neill said. Asked whether that meant he favored weakening the currency, O'Neill said: ``We are for a strong dollar, and we are going to continue to be for a strong dollar, and contrary to what you have just asserted, it has served us very well, and I don't think there is anything more to say.'' O'Neill has stumbled in the past in clearly expressing his views on foreign exchange, suggesting that he may be veering away from the strong dollar policy consistently expounded by his immediate predecessors Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and Larry Summers. In the interview, which was taped by Bloomberg on Monday and was being aired in two segments, O'Neill also said he expects the $1.35 trillion tax cut bill now being voted on by the U.S. Senate to be ready for President Bush's signature by Friday, and he praised the prospect of returning millions of dollars to Americans. ``This is going to be good for the economy in every conceivable way,'' O'Neill said. ``It will put money back where it belongs and back where it came from.'' He stopped short of saying that he thought the tax cut would provide an immediate stimulus for the weakened U.S. economy, which has slowed to a two percent annual growth rate in the first quarter. O'Neill said he expects Americans to use the tax cut in a variety of ways from increasing their savings, to buying a new car, to financing college education. The Senate today is expected to complete work on its version of the tax bill, which then must go back to committee to iron out differences with the House version before it can be sent to the White House for enactment into law.