Los Angeles Times Syndicate Merrill Lynch and Co., the largest U.S. brokerage, announced this week that it will cut 3,400 jobs, or about 5 percent of its global work force. Fed Chair Alan Greenspan, who only six months ago was lecturing an the continued dangers of inflation, last week lowered interest rates, warning the a slowdown was in the making. The world has turned. The party has dimmed on Wall Street, as expensive cigars go unpurchased, and the high-priced restaurant trade slows down. Investment bankers are starting to worry about their jobs and tightening their belts.
Fear pervades the executive suites and worker lunchrooms of America's steel industry.
A flood of steel made cheap by the collapse of the currencies in Korea, Indonesia and Thailand is coming our way. Farmers already feel the pressure and have once again sued for support. Most Americans don't feel the pressure yet. Jobs are still plentiful. Wages have begun to rise.