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- NATION, Page 31American NotesTHE ECONOMYThus Spoke Greenspan
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- When the chairman of the Federal Reserve speaks -- especially
- in the midst of a prolonged recession -- people listen. Last week
- Alan Greenspan had the ears of Washington and Wall Street peeled
- during Senate hearings on his confirmation to a second term (all
- but a foregone conclusion). Greenspan defended the go-slow
- policy in reducing interest rates to revive the economy. He also
- warned against a bidding war between the White House and
- Congress to see which could make the deepest tax cut.
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- Wall Street didn't like everything it heard, especially
- Green span's implicit suggestion that no more rate cuts are in
- the offing. The stock market plunged 47 points Wednesday -- and
- finished the week down 9 points -- in reaction to more bad
- news: the economy barely grew during the fourth quarter, inching
- up only 0.3%, while the index of leading economic indicators
- dipped 0.3% in December. Despite evidence of a "triple dip"
- recession, an optimistic Greenspan testified that he detects
- some "very subtle" signs of economic recovery.
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