Here s why.
Consumer confidence is down and unemployment up.
The most controversial man in America right now might be Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who to ease his fear of inflation raised interest rates six times in 18 months before realizing he had created a liquidity crunch. The economy suddenly was shaky, and until George W. Bush arrived to warn of the problem, Washington was in denial. As of January, as Clinton left town claiming to be leaving behind a rosy economy, the number of announced layoffs had risen by 300,000 to 6 million, pushing the unemployment rate from 4.0 to 4.2 percent of the labor force. Call it a dip, says former Reagan economic adviser Murray Weidenbaum. We are obviously in a tougher slowdown.