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On 30 Nov 2003 16:58:44 GMT, (Bobsprit) wrote:

Remember they said the tax cuts would
increase interest rates and kill the economy? Were they right about
this?


Nope. The economy is in awful shape, only showing "improvement" after
huge losses and scaling back by nearly every major company. Everyone
is in survival mode. The economic recovery is presently building on
cuts, not profits. Care to examine the year for Walmart, Toys R Us or
Merc? All slashed back to show even a break-even point. The low
interest rates are a desperate measure, and not even the liberals
predicted such a bad fall.

RB

Depends where you are.

tw

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http://www.cincypost.com/2003/11/29/purch112903.html

Survey: Businesses here set for growth
11/29/2003
By Greg Paeth
Post staff reporter

The region's economy continued to expand in November, according to the
latest snapshot from the area's businesses.
Further, that expansion is expected to continue well into 2004,
according to the survey.

The flash poll of 50 businesses by the Cincinnati chapter of the
National Association of Purchasing Management is the latest evidence
that the region's economy is moving into an expansion mode along with
the rest of the nation. The latest survey found 93 percent of
respondents said new orders will increase for the first six months of
2004. Only 7 percent said orders would remain at current levels, and
none said orders would decrease.

There also was good news on the job front: 56 percent said they planned
to increase employment while 44 percent said the number of jobs would
remain constant. None predicted job cuts.

Overall, the survey found that 73 percent of purchasing managers in the
region believe their businesses will grow next year while only 6
percent predicted a decline. That figure is the second strongest
forecast since the association began publishing its semi-annual
forecasts in May, 1996.

The strongest forecast was two years ago, two months after the
terrorist attacks crippled some U.S. businesses and depressed stock
prices. At that point, even the most pessimistic business owners
couldn't see further room for decline.

The survey also said that 87 percent of the purchasing managers said
they would be spending more during the first half of 2004 while just 6
percent said their companies would buy less during that period.

For the month of November, 11 of 12 indices the association tracks
supported a business expansion trend. The only index that did not
support expansion was the backlog of orders category, which showed no
change from the previous month.

The U.S. Commerce Department reported last week that gross domestic
product, the broadest measure of economic performance, increased at an
annual rate of 8.2 percent during the third quarter. That revised
growth rate was the strongest since the first quarter of 1984, a full
percent higher than the previous month's first growth estimate and more
than double the 3.3 rate for the second quarter of this year.

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