Reuters: Economy on fairly firm ground - Greenspan

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050609/bs_nm/economy_greenspan_dc_4



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Thursday that with the U.S. economy on a "reasonably firm footing" and underlying prices tame, policy-makers should be able to raise interest rates at a measured pace.

"Despite some of the risks that I have highlighted, the U.S. economy seems to be on a reasonably firm footing, and underlying inflation remains contained," Greenspan said in testimony prepared for delivery to the congressional Joint Economic Committee.

"Accordingly, the Federal Open Market Committee in its May meeting reaffirmed that it '...believes that policy accommodation can be removed at a pace that is likely to be measured,"' he added.

The Fed chief noted that slower productivity growth was pushing up U.S. labor costs and said it was an "open question" whether the rise would feed into inflation or hit corporate profits.

[xultar]

1. Who paid the little Hobbit to say that?

[BlueEyedSon]

2. Same peeps as always, Xultie!

[swag]

3. He is A DISCIPLE OF AYN RAND!

[Kmarx]

23. Greenspan

isn't the only one that's ugly as sin. In fact, Ayn Rand belonged on a leash! Can you imagine her and Greenspan in bed together? Ok, I'll stop I know it's almost lunchtime.

[swag]

24. I wonder if she ever made Greenspan fuck her, like she did with

poor Nathaniel Branden.

[mitchum]

43. He probably wished that he was a BLIND piano player at those times

I detest everything about that pathetic bitch

[mitchum]

42. Her physical ugliness is why she was convinced of her own genius

I imagine that she believed in the old "I'm not all that pretty, so I must be very smart" canard. Sorry Alice, sometimes people lose in several categories.
Bad novelist
Bad philosopher
Terrible human being
Ugly wench

[Chavez_in_08]

45. Ayn Rand

is a worthless hack whos insepid writing should have fallen into obscurity long ago. Greenspan apparently dosnt travel arround D.C. that much because there are parts of that city that look like a war-zone. and what about all the people who are unemployed, peak oil,the debt etc. AL the writings on the wall, we are in big trouble. speaking of hacks Harry Reid was right when he called Greenspan a politcal hack. and shame on all the dems that came to that worthless sack greenspans aid,

[Justitia]

4. Greenspan = Manipulative Hack Go away already Alan! -eom

[Tempest]

5. On firm ground if you're rich

Ask the 25,000 GM workers who are getting laid off between now and next year if the economy is on firm ground.

Ask the 3,000 HP workers getting laid off if the economy is on firm ground.

Ask the 330,000 people who applied for unemployment benefits in May if the economy is on firm ground.

Ask the 184,000 workers represented by May's mass layoff notices if the economy is on firm ground.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

13. Ask ANYONE in California who's trying to buy a $500K home...

...that's a "fixer-upper"...in a "not great neighborhood"...if it's on firm ground.

It's too bad that there's no raw data on the real estate "speculators" who keep buying up homes and "flipping" them for instant profit.

If there were, it would make it much easier to deflate Bush's "more people own homes than ever before" rhetoric.

:grr:

[Tempest]

19. Data on speculators

Bakersfield, California is the hottest housing market in the U.S. (I live there).

According to a newspaper report, real estate agents say more than 25% of the market is speculators and investors.


That means 25% of the market will disappear overnight if interest rates rise too high.

And you know what that would mean to the housing market as a whole.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

30. It's GOT to stop somewhere.

I live right in the middle of "Ground Zero" when it comes to the whole "dot com" mess. I was an eye witness to its downfall.

I KNOW people who saw the downfall coming, cashed out their stock, took the money and ran.

I know that if this housing bubble breaks, it will happen again. Some innocent people will get hurt. Some weasels will step back without a scratch.

But this CAN'T go on forever.

This article appeared in Fortune a couple of weeks ago. THIS is the face of Bush's "ownership society."

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/investing/articles/0,15114,1061371,00.html

REAL ESTATE FRENZY
Riding the Boom
They snap up real estate, flip it, then chase the next hot market.They’re the new day traders—and they’re dancing on the edge of a volcano.
By Grainger David

Zareh Tahmassebian is on the way to look at two of his houses in Phoenix. He is lost. Most people don’t get lost driving to their own residence, but then, Tahmassebian has never actually been to these particular homes. There are a few reasons for that: (1) He has no intention of ever moving into them, (2) he lives in Las Vegas, not Phoenix, and (3) he owns six other houses—and a half share of seven more—in the greater Phoenix area. "Sometimes it’s hard to keep track," he says.

Tahmassebian, just 22, is a big, affable guy who dresses the way a budding young speculator should: black trousers, a blue-and-white-striped shirt, cuff links, a Cartier watch, black suede loafers, and rimless purple sunglasses. The son of Armenian immigrants, he has spent the past four years in Las Vegas working as a mortgage banker, a job that he says paid him $250,000 in salary and commissions last year. He has taken the day off to fly to Arizona for a "frame inspection." The houses he’s inspecting are somewhere inside the Cholla Ranch development that’s being put up by KB Home, one of the nation’s largest builders. Right now he’s in the general area—cruising southeast down Highway 10 in a white Chrysler 300M rental car—but lacking specifics. "Is that Tempe?" he asks. "I think I have some houses there."

After several uninterrupted miles of cactus, desert, and tumbleweed, it becomes clear that he’s missed the turn, and he exits the freeway while dialing his broker. "Papa John!" Tahmassebian says into his cellphone. "Where are my houses?" To get more help, he dials KB Home on another phone, and soon he has a gleaming silver clamshell at each ear. For a moment the car drifts dangerously across the exit ramp, until I reach over to grab the steering wheel. "It’s okay," Tahmassebian whispers, nodding toward the place where his trousers meet the bottom of the wheel. "This knee can drive."

When we finally arrive at the first construction site, on Paradise Lane, Tahmassebian begins his inspection. "See this wood?" he says, gesturing to the slatted frame of the unfinished house. "This wood made money for me! I don’t own it—but I own the rights. I put a 10% deposit down, I haven’t even made a mortgage payment yet, and it’s already gone up $45,000. What a country!"

:grr:

[Tempest]

32. Thanks for the article

It will stop, but it's going to be one hell of a train wreck.

[pdurod1]

15. another one

ConAgra Foods Inc. says that it has or will cut about 1,000 salaried workers and reduce other expenses to improve profits

[leQ]

6. did anybody catch the WSJ article....

where the head of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office stated: "These are the good ol' days. These are the best of times. After this, it gets worse."?

[Delphinus]

7. What world is he living in?

He's full of crap! Food items are increasing, gasoline won't find stability, home heating prices continue to climb, jobs that can be found pay a pittance ... I'd like to live in his world for a bit of time.

Or maybe I need new glasses?

[Tippy]

9. Agree he is full of what I call bushit..

Every day we have more and more people losing jobs, not having enough to live on, more and more are losing their homes. People ar not stupid just slow...

on edit: added the word 'not'

[ckramer]

36. In Greenspan's equation, there is no place for poor people

They don't count.

Of course he doesn't know that inflation is out of control because his life doesn't involve rent or mortgage, unemployment or minimum wage. His purpose in life is to serve the rich.

[dchill]

39. The top 1% world.

These essential items (food, gasoline, heating etc.) are less than pocket change to these people - and they're who it's all about.

[Spazito]

8. Reading this, I see nothing but a whole lot of weasel words like

"seems to be on a reasonably firm footing"

"it was an "open question" whether the rise would feed into inflation or hit corporate profits."

"Whether that rise in unit costs will feed into the core price level or will be absorbed by a fall in profit margins remains an open question,"


It continues to amaze me that Greenspan can say a whole lot of NOTHING and the media seems to think he is saying something of substance.

My translation of this is: There are known unknowns, unknown knowns and I will not put myself on record for saying anything that could come back and bite me on my ass.

[DemNoir]

10. It's reasonably firm footing, Really!

Just don't look down.

[Javaman]

11. Hey Alan, do me a favor, read the fucking news!

Firm footing? Jobs are being cut left and right, moron* only generated 76,000 jobs last month, that doesn't even cover the lay offs.
What a titantic shill.
Here's some advies Alan, eat shit and quit.

[leesa]

12. He is uber rich and his friends are uber rich...what more could you want?

[Kmarx]

26. True, he and his friends are the super rich.

Greenspan is a phony. When asked about the outsourcing of jobs and the failure of the economy to produce the good paying jobs that he, Tom Friedman and other shit-heads said would materialize as a result of outsourcing, Greenspan said that he didn't know why it hasn't happen or when it will.

By the way, does anyone know who putting millions into the pockets of that shit-head Tom Friedman. I never saw a guy who was so obsessed with sending every decent job in the US overseas. I never saw anyone like him who wanted more than anything else to destroy the middle class. Who is paying him? I mean, he isn't doing it for nothing, that should be evident and he sure isn't doing it out of principles as he has none.

[Triana]

14. Oh. Is THAT WHY...

...a female IT worker (and most male ones too, but especially female ones) in this country CAN'T GET A DECENT, STABLE JOB? (any job for that matter).

'cause the Enronomy is in SUCH great shape? REEEAAALY? And just what Pollyanna believes that shiite?

Next, someone will be trying to tell me this country isn't run by a bunch of woman-hating, control-freak, mysogenist *ricks that corprat-Amerikka is emboldened by too. Their ageist, sexist, racist hiring practices are ENCOURAGED by the current Washington cabal, and are being used FULL FORCE. If you're a woman, and middle aged. DROP DEAD!

May as well.

"Pollyanna doesn't live here"

[Kmarx]

20. My dear,

I am a male over 50 and can drop dead with respect to getting a decent job. (All this I must add started under the big asshole's administation.) After a certain age employers just don't want you. The problem is made worse by the outsourcing of good paying jobs to other countries. What I am hoping is that in time India and China will develop internal turmoil (hopefully a revolution) and US corporations will get burnt down, blown up and tossed out, just like it will happen to these same companies that are trying to steal every drop of oil they can from Bush's Iraq adventure.

[CountAllVotes]

31. my brother is in the same boat as you

He is over 50 and got laid off at the end of January. He cannot find a job and he has refinanced his house so many times (aka use you house as an ATM) that he can no longer make the payments as the unemployment he is collecting of over $400 a week is not enough.

He also voted for *. He is not happy btw.

:kick:

[Kmarx]

33. I know from whence he comes.

Since May 2001 I have had only temporary jobs and only from time-to-time. It's really tough out there and it's only going to get worst because the corporations have Congress and the White House in their proverbial hip pockets. This is why any move by anyone in the House or Senate is a joke as any bills, no matter how well intended, will go nowhere if those bills attempt to stem the tide of rabid outsourcing. As I have said before, outsourcing has nothing to do with free trade, it's merely a feeding frenzy for unbridled corporate Capitalism. Hence, the fewer the number of jobs in this country, the more difficult for anyone to find a job, especially if you are 'a bit too old'.

My lord, your brother voted for dimwit. Shame on your brother. You should take him across your lap and teach him a lesson on who not to vote for! Good luck to you and your brother.

[Triana]

47. I know...my brother is in the same boat - he's 55...

..ageism, sexism, racism. I haven't had steady work since May 2001. Some here, some there. And in interviews the employers (contract cos and the firms they hire for) have the *audacity* to ask 'why you've had so many short jobs in the last 3-4 years'?

EXCUSE ME? WTF am I supposed to do sit here and not take any job that isn't 'permenant'? The job I got laid off from in May 2001 was 'permenant'!

I have a nasty habit of liking to have my damn bills paid and liking to have food to eat and that prevents me from being so picky. I guess that's a problem. I mean these people are ON ANOTHER PLANET! :wtf:

They want white males, not a minute over 35 at *most* - not far out of college and not a lot of experience (because they have to pay more for experience). NO females, NOBODY over 30 (if female), no blacks, no hispanics (they can go do yardwork). You are to work 50-70 hours per week, and be on call when not at work. Salary in the mid-30s - maybe.

You get paid by the HOUR. NO overtime. NO health insurance. NO paid holidays. NO sick time. NO vacation. Well. You CAN take time off - WITHOUT PAY. And you can have LOTS of time off when you can't find work, which is most of the time, these days.

If you're not white, male, and 25-35 or so, you WILL BE one of the first shitcanned in a layoff and GOOD LUCK ever getting another job in this market.

[area51]

38. female IT workers unable to get work

I hear you, Triana.

-------------
"Prosperity is just around the corner." — Herbert Hoover
"The economy has turned a corner." — GW Bush

Herbert Hoover = GW Bush

Neither man cared about the Depression their economic policies created.

[Triana]

48. Ya better be 30 and have a...

p*nis or forget getting hired.

[Fovea]

16. Greenspan only lies

when his lips are moving.

[wallwriter]

17. Remember when Lloyd Bentsen said,

WIth 200 billion in bad checks, I can create the illusion of prosperity? Well, now it's half a trillion a year, and the prosperity is barely an illusion.

We're screwed.

[Kmarx]

18. On Firm Ground?

It depends on which side of the mirror you are. When that rich, ugly sucker Greenspan says that the economy is on firm ground he is really saying that the rich are still making money. He never considers the number of unemployed and underemployed in the market. In fact, the more corporations lay off, the lower their costs and the greater their profits. Three cheers for Capitalism!

[conflictgirl]

21. Yep, he definitely drank the kool-aid, all right.

Not like there was really any doubt, but this confirms it.

[Kmarx]

22. Is this ugly or what:

Not that Andrea Mitchell is a bargain but even she could have done better than this.

[taught_me_patience]

25. We need to watch

Karl Rove's hands whenever magoo speaks. Seriously, the economy is good if you are ultra rich. It sucks if you are middle class.

[Vinca]

27. Greenspan must be suffering from undiagnosed Alzheimers.

Anyone who is even slightly up on the news knows how bad it is. Pension plans going kaput, GM circling the drain, housing out of the reach of the average worker. Maybe the Fed needs needs co-chairmen. One for the rich and one for the rest of us.

[Danmel]

28. He thinks inflation is under control???

Every time I turn around he are getting hammered- especially with health care- our deductibles and co pays have gone through the roof- I just paid $200 out of pocket for a sonogram of my kidney- that was my co-pay. Last year I had the same test done and it cost me my $15 office co pay. Every exam me, my husband or kids have had this year has cost us a substantial amount of money Adan we pay thru the nose for the "coverage"

Not to mention increased fuel costs, home heating costs in the winter, electricity, food....it's all up. I don't know what planet these people live on. The only thing that's not up substantially is our pay.

Fuck you Alan Greenspan and the horse you rode in on.

[olddad56]

29. Inflation is under whose control?

Not under my control. Gas prices are not under control. Housing prices are not under control, Medical costs are under control.

The only cost that is under control is the cost of a mouthpiece such as Greenspan.

[TexasLawyer]

34. OK-- Here's my only Federal Reserve joke

What do you get when you cross a Federal Reserve Chairman and a mafia don?

Answer to follow.

[TexasLawyer]

35. answer

An offer you can't understand.

[Kurovski]

37. It's disconcerting to see

"Greenspan" in the same sentence with "firm."

Well he's absolutely correct if he's talking about the top economic echelon of our society.

The rest of us are sliding down the shitter.

[LSK]

40. this is playing on CSPAN RIGHT NOW! n/t

[Media_Lies_Daily]

41. Ever notice how wide Greenspan opens his mouth when he's lying?

[Deja Q]

44. Why does his face remind me of this:

?

Or this?

[Cornjob]

46. Obviously Greenspan isn't looking at the indicators!

Most of the major indices (Consumer Sentiment, Purchasing Managers Index, etc) are headed for the dumper.

My own regression line applied to the PMI shows that we have about one to two months more before the economy is in contraction. The amazing thing is that the correlation and trend is so statistally significant.

We have been headed for trouble for about 18 months now, and I can see absolutely no signs of reversal. Employment numbers suck, fuel costs are headed up, auto sales are crashing, retail sales stink, inflation is headed up, etc.

I guess Alan must have gotten his info from the latest Kiplinger Letter. Ol' Knight K. has been blowing serious sunshine up his readers' behinds for many months.

Look for corporate profits to nosedive, followed by a similar market slide.

[Kmarx]

49. You've got it all wrong.

When Greenspan says that things are fine he is looking at it from his perspective and that of other multimillionaires. Yes employment numbers suck, fuel costs are headed up, and the like but this is how Capitalists get richer -- off the hard luck of others.

[leftchick]

50. why am I envisioning Andrea Mitchel's tongue right now?

:puke:

[leesa]

51. So how did we go from "unsustainable" a couple months ago to firm ground

This guy is so full of shit!