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Politics : Dutch Central Bank Sale Announcement Imminent? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sea_urchin who wrote (17183)	2/12/2003 3:01:01 PM
From: sea_urchin	Respond to of 81247

>Is it war or no war? This is what Richard Russell says: February 11, 2003 -- Bush is increasingly "up against it." The NATO nations are stubbornly resisting an attack on Iraq. Despite a long list of "smaller nations" signing on behind Bush, the BIG GUYS -- France (the leader of the opposition), Germany, Russia, Belgium and even China are in favor of more inspection and no immediate attack on Iraq if, in fact, there should be any attack at all. I'll admit it, I have thought up to now that there was no way that Bush was not going to pull the trigger and go in to Iraq. Now I'm having second thoughts. Will Bush go against the wishes of the world's major powers? He could, believe me he could. I find it hard to believe that Bush after weeks and months of outlining the dangers of Saddam, I find it hard to believe that Bush will order the US military to pack up its gear and return to the US. It could happen, but I guess it would surprise me. So let me put it this way -- for the first time I believe there's at least a chance that Bush will hold off pulling the trigger. I'm on the fence, 50/50 -- I'm on the fence for the first time. As for Bush's economic and financial plans, I'm increasingly wondering whether they're going to be implemented. Today in the New York Times there appeared a full-page advertisement headlined, "Ten Nobel Laureates Say the Bush Tax Cuts Are the Wrong Approach. Along with this statement signed by the ten Nobel Laureates, there appears the names of hundreds of economists from across the nation who agree with the headline statement. I usually don't pay much attention to this kind of "political propaganda" or let's call it "economic propaganda," but I must admit that this was a powerful ad. I even took the time to read the ad all the way through. Usually, the stock market will provide hints as to whether the current major problems of the day will be solved positively or negatively. But my take on the stock market is that as of now it doesn't have any answers. The proof is in the very low volume on the exchanges. It's as if investors are saying (with their money, of course) that "We don't know what the hell is going on. We don't know whether The US is going to war or not, we don't know whether the Bush tax plans are going to be law or not, we don't know whether terrorists will strike or not, we don't know whether the economy is getting better or worse, we don't know whether the Fed's policies will ever click in or not, we don't know whether the October market low will hold or not -- WE JUST DON'T KNOW ANYTHING."