Carl Tannenbaum Quotations

We've been able to achieve great things amid great challenges- including the stock market crash of 1987, the bursting of the stock bubble in 2000, two wars and the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Alan Greenspan might be thought of as our most valuable economic player.

There are a lot of cross currents out there ... but overall the report suggests the job market is still doing pretty well.

The pool of available labor is diminishing and worker efficiency is growing more slowly. This adds up to a higher level of pressure on wages, and, by inference, on inflation.

If they have to ring some inflation out of the system, the initial list of victims has to include housing markets. You have a risky period for consumers for the next six to eight months.

Frankly, I think that's healthy. Property has gotten so expensive, maybe people are getting a little bit of sticker shock.

If anything, we may be at risk for underestimating how well the economy will do this year.

We're nowhere near the same economy as we were in the 1970s. We're more service-based. We're much more energy efficient.

We've given the auto industry steroids, and we might be looking at a period of withdrawal as auto companies wean themselves from these stimulants,

Our guess is that long-term rates will begin to drift up later this year, albeit modestly.

Outside of Detroit -- and outside of the gulf region -- there are signs that the economy is still doing very well.

While companies have bigger stacks of chips to play with, they still remain hesitant to put many of them into the pot.

While auto sales make up a small share of GDP, they make up a big share of the change in GDP, ... As you see changes in the auto industry, it will contribute to headline economic growth numbers.

We're trained to think that rapid growth after six years of expansion is finally going to kick prices up a little bit, but in fact they're going in the opposite direction,

Unfortunately, I don't think the news tomorrow morning will put smiles on any faces.

We seem to be continuing to defy these natural limits of the economic cycle and we should be able to push forward at a decent pace in the second half without risking inflation,

There is short-term certainty and medium-term mystery for the Fed.

With holiday sales looking a little better than expectations and the Purchasing Managers Index up when we were expecting a decline, it's clear that the fear that many had that we had slowed down too far is unwarranted.

Energy costs, which act as a tax on consumer budgets, are taking a smaller bite out of consumer pocketbooks. There is, therefore, more money available to spend on other (non-energy) things.

The survey was taken in a dark week immediately after Katrina. The images (in the media) were of the type that don't makes us confident about anything.

After all the negative news about our trade position, our fiscal problems, our currency, our inflation rate and the Fed's credit-tightening program, long-term rates remain very, very low.

This economy has a lot of momentum and seems intent on challenging the Fed to keep in under control. Inflation is a real risk here after six years of expansion. The Fed perhaps is taking the first step, a down payment if you will, to try and keep that under control. But it may take more than what we saw yesterday.

They're obviously very close to being done with that long string of tightening.

It's a big surprise and another puzzle for economists to try to figure out.

It's a good time to make sure your debt is at a reasonable level.

Foreclosure depresses an area in a variety of ways.

Even with zero-percent financing, monthly payments for SUVs are still high, ... Consumers being willing to pay that much makes a positive statement about their sense of financial well-being.

Eighteen years of excellence has earned Greenspan the benefit of the doubt when blame is being allocated.

It's certainly surprising. I mean, all of the recent news suggested that we're going down a slippery slope toward a slower economic time.

This is coming in an environment where consumers are being challenged by higher interest rates and energy prices.

The new chairman, undoubtedly, is going to be someone that the administration is comfortable with, but I think the new chairman should take the step early on of showing that they are going to remain independent-minded.

In the thinking of most analysts, based on the fundamentals, there certainly is enough out there that the Fed should keep going, at least at this meeting.

It has surprised all of us that the economy has performed so strongly, but we think that the accumulated influence of higher rates both in the market and by the Fed will begin to take a little bit of starch out of the economy.

Hiring was cautious in October. Aside from companies not being able to operate because of the hurricanes, many businesses might have been in a state of suspense as they assessed damage to their operations and to the economy that might have resulted from these storms.

Households and corporations are still very active and are creating economic momentum, which is tremendously encouraging news for the economy. The only dark cloud comes from the news on prices, which are going up.

The hurricane season failed to blow the economy off course.

All three of the Big Three automakers have been increasing the amount of their production planning, ... We're also seeing a little kick-up in overtime hours. Even if demand tapers off, they'll need to get production going to get inventories to more normal levels.