I think there's a lot of hype going on, that the fundamentals of the U.S. economy, which six months ago were the envy of the world, have not changed. We've got a flexible job market, an unregulated economy, strong job growth, and I think people should just relax a little. She's exactly right. The problem with this tax cut, almost no matter which one you get is that it's not likely to really have an effect until the fall, no matter which one we talk about, whether it's a Democrat or the White House plan. If they passed it today, it would still take four to six weeks, I would think, before they could the implementation of it.
Interest rates are far more important now to the economy than they've ever been before.
I think the Fed has a role here, but I think we're losing sight of the business side of the equation. One of the reasons that the economy is slipping is that in the first half of 2000 business investment was way up, the second half of 2000 it went through the floor. We should be thinking about some tax reduction going to the corporate sector, because that's where jobs get created. As you probably know, the corporate side has been hanging back here, allowing the president to make his push for the middle class tax cuts. I don't think you're going to see a sudden lobbying effort, but there's been a lot of discussion on Capitol Hill both by members and representatives of the business community that this is part of the equation that needs to be thought through.