William Dunkelberg Quotations

We're going to rein it in. Caution should be the watchword.

Main Street optimism has backed down from the mountain top and is resting on a high plateau. The general view is that things have been going well for so long, they're bound to ease back a bit. Small-business owners aren't painting a doom-and-gloom scenario here. They just sense that the red-hot economy will cool by a degree or two.

Shopping action must have been heavy, as the frequency of reported sales gains jumped way up in November, to the third-highest level in all of '98.

Capital spending (actual and planned) got healthier and one in five owners views the current period as a good time to expand, strong for this period in the cycle.

Barring a crippling auto industry strike or some other major event unforeseen in May, the latest survey readings indicate a growth rate of about 3 percent during the next six months,

Historically, except for the dot-com hiring binge, this is a very solid number.

Katrina does put a wrinkle in the outlook. But the survey data indicate strong third and fourth quarters.

I won't say 'deflation,' but price paring was widespread. It reached far beyond manufacturing and agriculture.

It does not get much better (except in the crazy dot.com years).

Judicious capital investments have allowed the small-business community to cut operating costs to the point where many are able to hold the line on -- or reduce -- consumer costs, improve employee compensation, withstand flat or lower sales and still generate higher profits,

The data still point to an acceleration of inflation in 2000, but hint ever so tantalizingly at the possibility that the worst may be past,

While hiring plans have softened since last year, labor markets remain extremely tight.

While three points shy of the record set in December, that's still a very strong number.

to have taken the attack personally, posting widespread reductions in expected real sales gains over the next three months.

Credit costs more but is no harder to get. And because interest costs are not particularly large for most firms, there are few complaints.

The 'tone' is terrific but the dollars haven't caught up with the music.

The small business sector is clearly slowing, but there are no signs of 'disorder' in the exiting, ... This is good news for the Fed, which expressed its pleasure by hinting at rate cuts if things slowed too quickly.

Compared to last year, it's not a party, but historically, it's not so bad,

A net 17 percent of small employers plan to increase employment in the next three months, indicating that this year could be a fairly good period for manufacturing if the economy holds and the dollar weakens.

Consumer spending seems to be holding up in the aggregate figures, but it appears that consumers are 'shaving' spending on a broad front ? still eating out but ordering the cheap entrees,

Consumers have not become timid, capital spending is double digit, and the government is spending more.

Small business owners are raising wages to keep the people already on board and to make open positions more attractive. With many small firms struggling to fill job slots, it's natural to see expansion plans being put on hold.

By historical standards, that's a good rate, but we're used to 5 and 6 (percent growth) now, so it's going to feel bad. Perspective gets skewed by prosperity.

The index suggests that the consensus economic forecasts predicting slower growth for the first half of 1999 will be wrong again. We look for growth in Gross Domestic Product to keep running above 3 percent until at least mid-year.

The index signals a solid start to 2006.

The economy is slowing, but down to speeds previously regarded as 'too fast.'