Brian Wesbury Quotes (27 Quotes)

Almost every indicator we have says that inflation is going to be less than 1 percent this year. That means that the 5.5 percent Federal Funds rate is too high.

By cutting interest rates too far...the Fed is using the monetary equivalent of a corked bat, ... The end result will be more damage from lower rates, more volatility in future interest rates and more confusion about what monetary policy can and cannot do.

When we look at these numbers today, I don't think it's going to cause the Fed to move at all. Inflation is still low...the job market is growing moderately.

Real GDP in the third quarter and into the fourth will clear 4 percent, ... The economy has recovered after the war very strongly.

This number is a one-month number. I would really be hesitant to make a trend out of this. If you strip out oil, these numbers do not look so bad and, especially in the producer price area, prices are still falling and this tells me that the pipeline does not have inflation in it.

Those who fear deflation thought they were watching a horror flick this morning when the PPI was reported as falling 1.9 percent in April,

All of a sudden, this mystery of strong growth and low inflation doesn't seem such a mystery any more. This is exactly what the new economy is all about.

I believe the Fed is holding rates excessively low today -- current monetary policy is inflationary, ... they could scratch out 200 basis points over six months and have minimal effect.

The numbers we've seen over the past few months have to make them feel better about their stance in monetary policy. It will allow them to remove some of the pressure they feel to maybe raise rates, and in effect move toward lowering rates.

I think rules are made to be broken and history isn't always a perfect guide. Today the stock market is very undervalued. As I look into the future, the gains of the past few weeks are a precursor to what is going to happen in the future.

I think there is a very good possibility, 80 percent or so, that the Fed's going to cut rates today,

Now when people start to put together the pieces, it sure looks like the damage done to the financial markets from deflation around the world and a Fed that's too tight is beginning to rear its ugly head.

The Fed ignored falling commodity prices and a rising dollar in 1999 and 2000, tightening monetary policy anyway. The result was a recession and deflation. This time the Fed is making the same mistake, but in the opposite direction. The result will be rising inflationary pressures and bond yields.

Once we get beyond two or three percent deflation, we have problems because we can't drive interest rates low enough and we begin to have unanticipated drops in prices.

All in all, the economy is not weak enough to warrant another rate cut. However, the Fed will give us one anyway. As always, the end result of excessive ease by the Fed will be higher rates in the years ahead.

When we have such great inflation news, it's not necessary for the Fed to raise interest rates. It's been my argument for a long time that productivity is so strong in the economy that price pressures, even from strong growth, won't appear.

The Fed is going to have a very difficult decision, and I think a lot will depend on what some other numbers on the economy will do and what the stock market does.

Despite the decline in headline producer price pressures, the risks of deflation have clearly vanished and signs of inflationary pressures have emerged. With the Fed holding real rates below zero, we expect producer prices to continue their upward trend in the months ahead.

Business investment is on the rise, manufacturing activity is gaining momentum, and sustained job growth is just around the corner.

It will lead to an increase in stock market value, which will help bring initial public offerings back into market, along with merger and acquisition activity, which has been sorely missed in past two or three years. That added financial market activity comes along with a lot of real economic activity as well.

Data are pointing to very strong growth in the fourth quarter. The pessimistic viewpoint, which has seen its grip on reality slip to the last knuckle in the past few months, is now holding on by its fingernails.

If you put yourself in his shoes, he's never had a greater value in the marketplace than today. Every day the value of that ... diminishes.

The Fed's work is beginning to have an effect, ... The economy is definitely beginning to exhibit signs of slowing. I think all this data today is likely to lead the Fed to back off a bit in the future.

Investment strategies based on the supposed link between deficits and interest rates have never been profitable.

Weak currencies tend to signal weak economies. Brazil did not want to devalue, it fought off devaluation for a long time. Nonetheless the economic fundamentals forced them to devalue against their wishes.

As the odds of a Bush victory fell in the summer, so did the stock market. In the past two weeks ... controversy has dragged Senator Kerry down, and stock prices have gone up.

Any reduction is going to take away from my forecast of any boosted growth,