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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas A Watson who wrote (307119)	10/10/2002 3:54:46 PM
From: Bald Eagle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Things to come? Fears Grow As USA Market Slides By Tom Harty 10/10/2015 13:39:52 EST Washington (AP) - Fears are growing in the USA that the relentless slide in the USA stock market might topple companies or major banks and further harm the already hobbled economy at a time when the government is finally getting serious about solving the nation's debt mess. The Dow Jones index on the New York Stock Exchange plunged again Thursday, closing at a new 29-year low for the third time this week. The 30 issue Dow Jones average fell 1.17 percent to 2, 874.12 points, its lowest finish since 1992. "The USA is going to sink and turn into a nation of beggars," said Tony Soprano, 58, whose land development business has been struggling to obtain bank loans. "It's a big mess." Like many US citizens, Soprano was worried that the President, Ari Fleischer, seemed to have no plan to salvage the economy. The stock market has been lagging at 29-year lows for weeks. But the plummet took a turn for the worse shortly after the President picked a new Cabinet on Sept. 30 and placed economy minister, Ken Lay, in charge of financial services. Lay promised to speed up the cleanup of bad debts at the banks in a "quicker, larger-scale and more understandable" way. The promise was supposed to reassure investors and analysts, who have complained that bad debts in the financial sector are a drag on the USA's economy. Instead, Lay's comments set off fears that corporate bankruptcies - even of major banks - may be inevitable. Investors have been fleeing in droves. The Dow Jones Average, which stood above 3000 at the end of September, has shed about 10 percent in this month's eight trading sessions. One big problem for the USA is deflation, in which prices continue to drop, eroding the value of assets as well as collateral for loans. "Trying to tackle bad loans without first dealing with deflation is simply a crazy feat," said Harvey Jenkins, chief economist at Credit Suisse First Boston in New York. "The prime minister is more interested in structural reform and doesn't really care about economic recovery." On Thursday, the President's spokesman, Dennis Miller, seemed to shrug off worries about the stock market and denied the government was considering any specific measures to stem the nose-dive in share prices. "The fall in the Japanese. and European stock markets are also behind this," she said, adding that an economic package was being planned for later this month. "There can be no economic recovery without structural reform," is Fleischer's pet slogan. And he often appears more determined to wipe out corruption and waste than rely on old-style bailouts to stimulate economic growth. Although widely praised for trying to stick to reforms, Fleischer has delivered little so far for average US citizen looking for an economic boost. The unemployment rate remains at a near-record 15.4 percent, consumer spending is flat, paychecks are shrinking and the weak recovery remains heavily dependent on exports. Recent signs that the pace of the European recovery may be slowing is also a concern. Dubious loans at the nation's banks are estimated by the government to total about $324 trillion. Private analysts say the amount could be twice that figure or more. Fleischer has balked at doling out public works projects, which his predecessors have used to boost the economy. USA's public debt has ballooned to about $500 trillion, or 335 percent of its gross domestic product, higher than any industrialized country.