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.

Technology Stocks : Dell Technologies Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jim kelley who wrote (122927)	5/6/1999 10:52:00 PM
From: Mohan Marette	Respond to of 176388

Industry 'Titans' on the U.S & World economy--> Jim: Interesting point of view from people on the front-line. =================================== But Business Council members said emphatically they did not think that inflation was a problem and said they were using incentives such as stock options to help keep wages down. ===================================== U.S. business leaders see global growth picking up (New throughout with quotes from executives) By Caren Bohan WILLIAMSBURG, May 6 (Reuters) - Leaders of major U.S. corporations said on Thursday that the struggling global economy was turning around, another plus for a spectacular American economy. Members of the Business Council, a group of chief executives from 300 large corporations, said the U.S. economy may top last year's strong performance. ''We feel the slide in global economic activity has bottomed out,'' said Sanford Weill, chairman of Citigroup Inc., who presented the poll as the council's spring meeting kicked off. ''We feel that business prospects will stay at least stable and maybe get a little bit better as the year progresses.'' The council's survey of 46 executives found that a ''large majority'' felt that the world economy, which has been reeling from crises in Asia, Russia and Latin America, was starting to turn the corner. Offering concrete evidence of the turnaround, John Snow, chief executive of the transportation company CSX Corp., said shipments between Asia and the United States no longer appeared to be a one-way flow of goods to Americans. ''As the Asian economies pick up, we aren't just moving empty containers back to the United States,'' Snow said, adding that in the last two to three months he had noticed an increase in demand for fresh fruit, frozen chicken and other foods, much of it headed toward Korea and Southeast Asian countries. Korea and Thailand have begun to climb out of an economic crisis that began nearly two years ago. But Japan, the world's second-largest economy and an anchor in Asia, has been mired in economic stagnation, plagued by a troubled banking sector. Business leaders said there were signs even Japan was bottoming out. As for the U.S. economy, the executives gushed about its stellar performance during the ninth year of expansion. They cited strong growth, a nearly fully employed labor force, low inflation and strong productivity growth as among the many attributes of the growth cycle. ''This is really the best of times,'' Weill said. Lawrence Bossidy, chairman of AllisSignal Inc., said intense competition in the global economy forced U.S. companies to become more efficient, a challenge that they have met with the help of the Internet and other technological changes. ''The American business community has probably perfected the best business model in the world,'' Bossidy said. In addition to surveying council members themselves, the group also queried the businesses' staff economists about their outlook. They concurred that a global improvement seemed likely and that growth domestically would stay healthy or possibly strengthen. The economy grew at a robust clip of 3.9 percent in 1998. It bolted into the first three months of the year at an annual rate of 4.5 percent. Speaking in Chicago earlier, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan signaled concern about the rapid growth, saying the increasingly tight labor market risked driving up inflation. But Business Council members said emphatically they did not think that inflation was a problem and said they were using incentives such as stock options to help keep wages down. The staff economists, on average, saw a chance of slightly higher short-term U.S. interest rates by the end of this year. A large majority of the economists said they would back reappointing Greenspan to another four-year term as head of the Federal Reserve, when his current term is up next year. Other candidates on their short list were: U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin; Fed Governor Laurence Meyer; and Robert Parry, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. For his part, Snow of CSX said Greenspan had handled the economy ''brilliantly'' and, without question, deserved reappointment. He saw no need for higher rates right now. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------