Since Mr. Greenspan last testified to Congress, the U.S. economic recovery has shown signs of faltering -- retail sales have weakened, housing construction has declined, stock prices have taken a dive, and Wall Street has begun to fret about a new "soft patch" in the economy. This week some Fed policy makers have acknowledged the economy may have hit a "soft spot."
He repeated his recommendation that Congress should reinstate rules that would require spending increases to be offset by tax increases, and tax cuts to be offset by spending cuts. "Unless that trend is reversed, at some point these deficits would cause the economy to stagnate or worse," Mr. Greenspan said. His remarks -- including his assessment of current economic performance -- were nearly identical to testimony Mr. Greenspan delivered to the House Budget Committee last month. "I fear we may have already committed more physical resources to the baby-boom generation than our economy has the capacity to be delivered," Mr. Greenspan said. "If existing promises need to be changed, these changes should be made sooner rather than later. We owe future retirees as much time as possible to adjust their plans for work, saving, and retirement spending." Abridged from: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111409061337313200,00.html?mod=home_whats_news_us ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Discover CFTicket - The leading ColdFusion Help Desk and Trouble Ticket application http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=48 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:154863 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
