to finance purchases of household durables and other consumer goods and services probably will become more expensive and less available as well. banks are likely to be especially cautious about making new loans and financing commitments while substantial uncertainty about the quality of loans and the extent of demands from previous commitments persists. so it would not be surprising to see lessgenerous credit for a wide variety of loans to business and households. and, the rates for some loans are tied directly to elevated libor or other rates in term funding markets. more generally, credit will probably not be as easily available and as inexpensive for many borrowers as it was a few months ago, even after market functioning improves. in several segments of the financial markets, compensation for taking on risk had for some time seemed too low to be sustainable. in addition, more credit is likely to flow through banks, and leverage in the nonbank sectors of the financial markets will be lower. the higher levels of capital relative to assets should form the basis for a more stable system, but the spread of lending rates over the cost of funds will need to rise so that capital can earn a competitive rate of return. the deterioration in actual and expected financial market conditions between the august and september fomc meetings changed our view of appropriate monetary policy. whatever policy path previously seemed appropriate to support sustainable growth and price stability looked too high once credit conditions tightened substantially. our policy easing was aimed at helping to offset the effects of those tighter credit conditions and thereby to encourage moderate economic growth over time. it was not intended to, nor should it, short circuit a more realistic pricing of risk and the gains and losses that the repricing will entail for market participants. many people had expected the federal reserve to follow a gradual path of rate reductions in response to financial market developments – say, 25 basis points in september and another 25 basis points in october. such a path would be in keeping with how we have often approached our policy choices, as it has the advantage of allowing us to calibrate our policy as we see how the economic situation is evolving and responding to earlier policy moves. however, given the circumstances at the time of the september fomc meeting, there were strong arguments in favor of the larger action of a 50 basis point decrease in the federal funds rate. for one thing, it seemed that a decrease of that size could well be necessary to promote moderate growth. we had been holding the federal funds rate at 5 - 1 / 4 percent, well above

sharply, they have made very little progress in reducing the number of unsold new homes on the market. as a result, even absent a further deterioration in sales, residential construction would probably decline further in the months ahead, imparting a significant drag on overall growth in real gross domestic product. beyond housing, it is too early to tell what effect financial market turmoil is having on household and business spending, though very preliminary and partial information suggest that thus far the effects seem to be limited. moreover, the available data indicate that the economy entered this period still expanding at a moderate pace. for example, consumption held up well this summer supported by solid growth in real incomes. and, the recent data on orders and shipments of capital goods and on nonresidential construction indicated further growth in capital outlays in august. that said, credit availability is likely to be tighter than before, consumer confidence is down, and businesses will probably be a little more cautious for a while, suggesting that these components of aggregate demand could become more subdued in coming months. over time, however, i anticipate that the economy will move back onto a moderate growth track. the housing market should gradually recover as the cutback in production and lower prices help reduce the inventory overhang. and, as it does, the drag on growth from the declines in residential construction will abate, providing a boost to overall economic activity. to be sure, households are likely to start to save more out of their current incomes as they come to realize that they cannot count on a rise in the value of their real estate to build their retirement nest eggs. however, households have been surprisingly resilient to recent economic shocks, and any rise in the saving rate probably would be gradual. more generally, consumer spending should continue to be supported by ongoing growth in employment and income. in the business sector, balance sheets are in good shape, and most firms are not likely to face an appreciable tightening of credit availability. as a result, i anticipate that they will expand their investment spending to keep pace with rising household demands and with strength in export markets. in sum, once we get through the near - term weakness caused by the extra downleg from the housing contraction and any spillover from tighter credit conditions, i am looking for moderate growth with high levels of employment. but you should view these forecasts even more skeptically than usual. the fomc emphasized the considerable uncertainty in the outlook. as i noted