It's a global economy (whether or not you are stupid)
Asia sneezed and the world rushed out to buy cold remedies. The volume of sell orders and price inquires brought the New York Stock Exchange to its knees. At one point updates were two hours behind.
US economic growth slowed (as expected) as home building and the auto industry applied the brakes. Another factor was companies trimming inventories going into the fourth quarter. Still, economic growth for the past year was about 3.4%, which is what was predicted.
This could all be leading up to a replay of the Asian recessions of the 1990s. Or it could simply be an economic correction that occurs whenever demand gets too far out of track with supply. (Don't forget that many "experts" have been predicting a "soft landing" for over a year now. Have we landed yet?)
Speaking of currencies (weren't we?) Airbus (a nominally private company which receives enormous government subsidies from its partner governments) is blaming the "weak" dollar for its woes, despite the fact that its ill-fated venture into "super jumbo" land with a planned double-decker airliner is costing it billions of dollars as the project gets further and further behind. The entire affair is reminiscent of Japan's gamble with "fifth generation" computer languages in the 1990s. It also lost big on that bet. Anyone still believe that central planning by the government is a good way to control an economy?
I won't try to predict which way the economy will turn as there are too many variables in play. I will, however, go on record as supporting low taxes and tight fiscal policies to ensure that our economic growth is the best possible, whether the coming years bring more expansion or a recession.
The worst thing we could do at this point is try to steer the economy from the White House and/or Congress.
US economic growth slowed (as expected) as home building and the auto industry applied the brakes. Another factor was companies trimming inventories going into the fourth quarter. Still, economic growth for the past year was about 3.4%, which is what was predicted.
This could all be leading up to a replay of the Asian recessions of the 1990s. Or it could simply be an economic correction that occurs whenever demand gets too far out of track with supply. (Don't forget that many "experts" have been predicting a "soft landing" for over a year now. Have we landed yet?)
Speaking of currencies (weren't we?) Airbus (a nominally private company which receives enormous government subsidies from its partner governments) is blaming the "weak" dollar for its woes, despite the fact that its ill-fated venture into "super jumbo" land with a planned double-decker airliner is costing it billions of dollars as the project gets further and further behind. The entire affair is reminiscent of Japan's gamble with "fifth generation" computer languages in the 1990s. It also lost big on that bet. Anyone still believe that central planning by the government is a good way to control an economy?
I won't try to predict which way the economy will turn as there are too many variables in play. I will, however, go on record as supporting low taxes and tight fiscal policies to ensure that our economic growth is the best possible, whether the coming years bring more expansion or a recession.
The worst thing we could do at this point is try to steer the economy from the White House and/or Congress.