Mickey Levy Quotes (25 Quotes)

The way to look at it is that demand is very strong and there is a slight moderation in the rate of growth.

Consumer spending is growing only modestly. So, it appears the easing of interest rates has helped the consumer only somewhat ... not a lot.

Clearly, wage increases are tilting upward. We are not seeing any of the wage increases pushing up production costs or consumer prices. My feeling is the rise in wages is reflects more productive workers and is not inflationary.

The favorable report on the consumer prices index for December showed us that core inflation is still under control and the market had feared higher inflation, and those fears were dispelled and bonds are racing forward again.

We've seen a clear pickup in consumer spending and housing and now the manufacturing sector. I'd say with a couple more months, businesses will start to gain confidence.

He spoke in detail about some fairly complex issues. The broader plan is to conduct monetary policy based on rigorous economic analysis and hard thinking about the economic concepts that go into the conduct of monetary policy.

Production and employment always follow demand, and we've seen a pickup in demand. I think this will translate into a better labor market in May or June. I know the employment reports have been disappointing lately, but be patient.

Whether it's this month or the next handful of months, we see the combination of sustained productivity gains, profit growth and healthy increases in product demand leading businesses to want to rehire.

I'd read it differently. It's hard to question that housing activity is strong -- it is. The question is what's going to happen to the rate of growth, and I think it's going to flatten out.

After a couple of false starts, the past couple of months does have the feel of a more traditional recovery, driven by consumer spending and housing. The follow-through is the business response.

I'd say this doesn't provide any evidence for an interest rate move one way or the other.

There is a concentrated effort to draw Jerusalem into the circle of violence.

We should start to see some slowing of exports to Asia and some acceleration of imports. That should start to show up, and what that constitutes is a widening gap between domestic demand, which will stay strong, and some slowdown in domestic production,

Particularly with the recent jump through energy costs, real wages have fallen behind a little bit. The financial markets are too quick to assume that higher wages result in inflation. That's not true at all.

I expect employment to increase, but I also expect the unemployment rate to remain pretty high. We'll get the rate lower, but it will take time.

But what's been holding the markets back from jumping in more fully is the turnaround in corporate profits and cash flows, ... Secondly, it's just confidence that we're coming out of this recession and that product demand will be increasing.

The critical question is how much the White House listens to Greenspan.

Businesses quite simply haven't been able to pass on the higher unit labor costs to consumers, and have the prices stick without losing market share.

Although a heightened degree of overseas job outsourcing is probably taking place, the phenomenon is likely exaggerated by newspaper headlines,

The robust gain in economic output in the fourth quarter will combine with only a modest rise in hours worked to generate another spectacular increase in productivity for the quarter. Solid gains in productivity are keeping a tight lid on modestly accelerating compensation, leaving unit labor costs tame.

The reason we've shifted to deficit spending is largely due to a shift from very robust economic growth and a booming stock market into a recession. The bottom line is, I'm not particularly concerned.

Mickey Levy, chief economist for Bank of America said the money that will pour in may more than make up for the hits New York will take in finance, tourism and retail. The rebuilding will take place and be financed by federal and local authorities, ... New York will still be the most important city in the world.

We're going to see that number borrowing from construction employment increases in the coming months, but even if you take out the huge increase in construction, you still have healthy gains throughout all the labor markets,

This number may be a touch better than expectations.

Keep in mind that monetary policy works with a lag, so that this shouldn't have any impact on the consumer, ... My guess is a quarter point.