Bush at the Economic Club of New York
The Associated Press

President Bush acknowledged an economic slowdown Friday, but ruled out government fixes.

Featured Topic | Posted 37 weeks 1 day ago

Bush acknowledges "tough times ahead"; how tough?

President Bush on Friday acknowledged that the U.S. economy is looking at a "tough time" and even a "rough patch." But he remains guarded with his language. The S-word is okay ("slowdown"). Even the grimmer D-word is acceptable ("downturn"). But don't expect the R-word to slip out of the president's lips.

As President Bush tried to calm the nation's economic anxiety Friday, he resisted again any suggestion that the country has fallen into recession. But more and more economists worry that the credit and housing crisis is leading the United States in that very direction.

What should President Bush do about the sluggish economy? What should the Federal Reserve do? What should American workers do?

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Ben likes: Whip inflation now? Good luck!

Donald Luskin/Smart Money

In March 1980, inflation was running at 14.8%. Fed chief Volcker finally killed it by cranking interest rates so high that three-month Treasury bills were yielding 15.7%. Does anyone remember that?

Apparently not. Just before Volcker finally did what it took to slay the inflation monster, gold prices had soared from $35 a few years earlier to $850. Until just recently, that was the all-time high for gold. Now gold is way beyond that, having traded over $1,000 on Thursday. But is today's Fed Chief Ben Bernanke talking about raising interest rates to slay today's inflation monster? Au contraire.

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Joel likes: Regulation to the rescue

Washington Post

A creative, flexible financial system is indeed an engine of economic growth. Bush administration officials express an understandable desire not to burden the capital markets with excessive regulation. But where the subprime experience is concerned, too much government supervision does not appear to have been the problem.

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