83 Quotes by Diane Swonk

I think it does encourage flight to quality, temporarily, but actually I think once we get beyond this point, there is a deadline here, ... December 12th is a deadline out there looming not very long away, and I think that once we get beyond that point we really will see this as little more than a blip in the radar screen, as much as it seems like a major event in the moment for the markets. But it's not part of the fundamental economy.

It confirms that the Fed is almost done. Those looking for higher rates are not looking at the economy the same way as the Fed.

I think the market is tired of Christmas. We've already seen the Christmas reports. As far as the market is concerned, that's old news.

I think you have to take the January numbers with a bit of a grain of salt. Consumer confidence is still quite strong and I think we'll see at least a partial recovery in activity in February and through the spring.

Retailers ordered extremely conservatively for the holiday season. The shelves aren't overly abundant with goods, and controlling inventories has finally made it into broad retailers, not just Wal-Mart. That's important because it means a lot of the early promotions we've seen have brought the consumers in, but has left less on the shelves with less selection.

Steakhouses all of a sudden don't look so good, but people don't stop eating,

That doesn't mean that competition is getting any less. It just means that companies have to turn inward to innovate in order to boost profits and customer satisfaction,

My own view is that full employment is closer to 4 to 4.5 percent -- probably closer to the 4.5 percent range.

Like what the Fed has suggested, the U.S. economy was more than strong enough to absorb the blows of Katrina. The labor market is still pretty resilient.