The former Alcoa CEO strongly hinted at an acceleration of the tax cut program and expressed his full support for turning budget surpluses into lower personal tax-rate burdens. O'Neill left the door open for additional reductions in business taxes, capital gains taxes and the alternative minimum tax. O'Neill indicated that he understands that large trade deficits in the U.S. are a sign of economic strength and he repeated his long-held view that corporate taxes need to be reformed or abolished altogether. So looking at the whole economic picture, I'd say that the downturn will be brief. Both monetary and fiscal policies are set to improve.
Inflation is rock- bottom.
The interest rate structure, never terribly high to begin with, will move even lower, especially among short-dated maturities. And the nation is in good hands as Team Bush takes over the helm. This is because, with very few exceptions, U.S. economic history is characterized by substantial market freedoms and entrepreneurial opportunities. Certainly in the past twenty years entrepreneurship and wealth creation has been on the rise. I would say even more economic freedom is coming, even in Philadelphia.