This morning, as I waded through the online news archives, I felt the ghost of Marley hanging about; so the focus of this week's post asks the question, are these the headlines of the past, present or still yet to come? I'll let my readers decide.
NEW REPORTS INDICATE RECOVERY IS FALTERING
RETAIL SALES FALL
JOBLESS BENEFITS CLAIMS RISE
Steven Mufson, Washington Post
November 15, 1991Weak retail sales in October and a jump in applications for unemployment benefits during the week ended Nov. 2 point to a shakiness in the economic recovery, economists said yesterday after the government released new statistics.
Separate data also showed that the anemic economy kept a lid on inflation last month. A tiny 0.1 percent increase in consumer prices during October soothed concerns raised Wednesday by the disclosure of a surprisingly sharp October increase in prices at the...
PRESIDENT BLAMES SENATE DEMOCRATS FOR RECESSION
CITING RESISTANCE TO CAPITAL GAINS TAX CUT, BUSH DEFENDS HIS OWN ECONOMIC POTPOURRI
Ann Devroy, Washington Post
November 13, 1991President Bush, on the political defensive as he begins his reelection drive, today put the blame for the recession on Senate Democrats and offered a stew of remedies that mixed everything from tort reform to a plea to credit card firms to drop their interest rates.
In the third of a series of Bush-Quayle fund-raising events, Bush portrayed himself as having a full program to deal with the nation's ills and said the Democrats have resisted that program at every turn.
NEW MEDICARE FEES FAVOR PRIMARY CARE
Associated Press
November 16, 1991WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration announced a new Medicare fee scale yesterday that will boost payments to family and general practice physicians while limiting increases for surgeons and other specialties.
The fee schedule, to go into effect Jan. 1, marks the biggest revision in the way Medicare pays physicians since the program began nearly 26 years ago.
It is intended to make the payment system more rewarding for primary-care physicians, which federal health officials hope will...
SENATE CRITICS STALL $5.1 BILLION JOBLESS AID BILL
SOME SAY THEIR STATES WOULD BE SHORTCHANGED
HOUSE APPROVES THE MEASURE, 396-30
Eric Pianin Washington Post
November 15, 1991A $5.1 billion measure to provide up to 20 weeks of extended benefits for an estimated 3 million unemployed workers stalled in the Senate last night after sailing through the House by a vote of 396 to 30. Some senators complained that their states would be shortchanged by the measure.
"This proposal benefits many states very well, but others it severely handicaps," said Sen. William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.), who joined with others in blocking an immediate vote. "I'm not one to...
MODEST RISE IN HOME SALES FORECAST FOR NEXT 6 MONTHS
ECONOMISTS PIN PREDICTIONS ON LOWER MORTGAGE RATES
Jacqueline L. Salmon, Washington Post
November 16, 1991Housing-industry economists are predicting a mild pickup in house sales in the next six months, but only if mortgage rates continue to fall and consumer confidence begins to rise.
"We're seeing a tug-of-war between low interest rates and slow job growth in today's economy," said John Tuccillo, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors (NAR), "which is making this recovery for housing and the full economy an uncomfortable one."...
ESTATE TAX REPEAL SEEN RAISING REVENUES Mitchell Zuckoff, Boston Globe November 12, 1991In a finding certain to fuel heated debate, a study to be released today concludes that repealing Massachusetts' estate tax would actually increase state revenues by $86 million a year.
The gain, the study claims, would come from increases in income, sales and other taxes paid by wealthy, older residents who now flee Massachusetts for low-tax states.
Gov. Weld has made deep cuts in the estate tax a cornerstone of his sweeping "tax relief" plan, but it has been a hard sell...
IRAN'S REACH FOR A NUCLEAR SWORD Boston Globe Op/Ed November 13, 1991Now that the Cold War has ended, hawks and doves alike will be tempted to impose their versions of history, to insist that humanity escaped the nuclear sword of Damocles because of bloated defense budgets or because of arms control and the peace movement. Another possibility is that only dumb luck prevented obtuse and belligerent leaders from using the doomsday weapons at their disposal.
Lady Luck, however, is notoriously fickle. The discovery of Saddam Hussein's advanced...
SMALL BUSINESSES LOSING HOPE
Boston Globe
November 13, 1991Small-business owners are losing confidence in the economy and have little hope that recent interest-rate cuts will do much to boost sales. The National Federation of Independent Business said a survey of owners showed their worries about the economy dipping into a second recession grew. "The economy stopped falling in the third quarter, but it settled into the mud," said NFIB chief economist William Dunkelberg. "The fourth quarter will not be as good and could produce another...
NERVOUS BULLS TRY TO FATHOM FUTURE PRICES
Robert Lenzner, Boston Globe
November 14, 1991NEW YORK -- Wall Street is full of nervous bulls.
They are nervous that the stock market is fully priced, nervous that the economy is not recovering, nervous that lower interest rates aren't the solution, nervous that George Bush's re-election is no sure thing.
"Uncertain. Confused. Volatile." That's how the market strategists at Salomon Brothers described the investment climate last week.
"The die is cast," intones Michael Sherman, Shearson Lehman...
TAX CUTS: A FLAWED STIMULANT
Boston Globe Op/Ed
November 14, 1991The intersection of a a swooning economy with the early stages of a presidential election campaign has predictably led to a revival in talk about taxes in general and tax cuts in particular. Politicians, many of them sincerely concerned about the state of the economy, detect an opportunity to fight the recession with a tax cut while appealing to voters' baser instincts at the same time. Whatever their motives, they are on the wrong track.
The American economy does need a jolt, and the...
FED SURVEY: WORST OF CRUNCH OVER
Associated Press
November 14, 1991WASHINGTON -- Results of a new survey of banks suggest the worst of the credit crunch may be over, the Federal Reserve Board said yesterday.
An October poll found that nearly all the banks surveyed said they had not changed their credit standards for approving business loan applications since an August survey.
"In light of the historical tendency of banks to report that they have tightened standards, the virtual absence of reported tightening of standards . . . might be interpreted...
BUSH DOMESTIC PLAN REPORTED IN THE WORKS AIDES CITE CONCERN ON STANDING IN POLLS
John W. Mashek, Boston Globe
November 15, 1991WASHINGTON -- President Bush plans to counter public concern over his domestic policies by using his State of the Union address to unveil a slate of proposals as a prelude to kicking off his reelection campaign, according to a senior administration official.
Bush himself suggested as much yesterday, saying, "I'll have a very strong State of the Union that hopefully can mobilize the Democrats that control Congress to do what they should have done some time ago."...
BUSH HONORS VETERANS WITH SPEECH ON GULF WAR
Associated Press
November 12, 1991ARLINGTON, Va. -- Leading the nation's Veterans Day observances, President Bush placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns yesterday. He said that the victory in the Gulf War had kindled overdue respect for Vietnam veterans, and that this was "good for the nation's soul."
Bush pledged that the United States would "always be a force for peace in the world" as he paid special tribute to veterans of the nation's two most recent wars...
PAT BUCHANAN IS SAID TO WEIGH GOP CHALLENGE
John W. Mashek, Boston Globe
November 15, 1991
WASHINGTON -- Pat Buchanan, the conservative columnist and television commentator, has decided to challenge President Bush in the Republican primaries next year, several of his friends said yesterday.Buchanan, 51, was in San Francisco yesterday, according to associates at Cable News Network, and numerous attempts to reach him were unsuccessful.
The White House did not take the news as a serious political threat. "It's a free country," spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said,...
BUSH AGAIN LAMBASTES HILL ON ECONOMIC LEGISLATION
WHITE HOUSE ADVISERS TARGET INTERNAL DISSENT
Ann Devroy and John E. Yang Washington Post
November 14, 1991President Bush continued his assault on Congress yesterday for failing to pass his economic package while his top advisers met at the White House to better "coordinate" the administration's economic message, including persuading internal dissenters to keep quiet.
According to an official present at the White House session, a major goal was "to remind Jack Kemp that George Bush won the election in 1988 and that he is not one of the president's economic...
STOCK MARKET DIVE BIGGEST IN 2 YEARS
DOW AVERAGE PLUMMETS 120 POINTS
Robert J. McCartney, Washington Post
November 16, 1991The stock market suffered its steepest drop in two years today as a growing concern about the nation's sputtering economy and doubts about Washington's handling of the banking crisis prompted traders and investors to dump shares.
The Dow Jones average of blue-chip industrial stocks plunged 120.31 points to close at 2943.20 in trading described as heavy but not panicky. It was the fifth largest one-day drop in points in the Dow average, erasing more than $130 billion in stock value...
BUSH'S RX FOR THE ECONOMY: SLASH CREDIT CARD RATES
Rita Beamish, Associated Press
November 13, 1991NEW YORK -- President Bush urged credit card issuers yesterday to cut interest rates to help revive the nation's sagging economy and accused Democrats of sending his legislative prescriptions to "liberal limbo."
Speaking at a fund-raiser for his still-unofficial re-election campaign, Bush blended an attack on the Democrats with a fresh prescription for the economy, which has not rebounded strongly from recession as the administration had hoped.
JUSTICES HEAR CAMPUS BIAS CASE
Associated Press
November 14, 1991WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday on a state's obligation to overcome a legacy of discrimination in once-separate white and black universities. The Bush administration and a civil rights lawyer, Alvin Chambliss, argued that Mississippi still has not done enough to dismantle its separate system for blacks and whites. Mississippi's attorney replied that the discriminatory practices ended long ago, that students may now choose universities even though they remain...
SHAMIR SAYS PALESTINIAN EXPECTATIONS ARE TOO HIGH
Ethan Bronner and H.D.S. Greenway, Boston Globe
November 15, 1991JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who begins a visit to the United States today, said yesterday that Palestinian expectations from the Middle East peace process are exaggerated and Israel will prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.
"If somebody thinks about two states on this small territory, the meaning of it will be to condemn the populations of these both eventual states to an eternal conflict," Shamir told The Boston Globe in an interview on the morning of...
KERREY ASSAILS BUSH 'LIBERAL' BASHING
November 15, 1991
Walter V. Robinson, Boston GlobeSen. Bob Kerrey asserted yesterday that President Bush and David Duke, by decrying "liberals" in their political rhetoric, are both employing the same "racial code word" that their Republican predecessors have used for more than two decades to frighten American voters.
The Democratic presidential candidate, in an appearance at Boston University, also described the president as out of touch with the problems of average Americans. He likened Bush to a French king in a Mel...
HOUSE BODY BACKS ELECTION FUND BILL
Associated Press
November 15, 1991WASHINGTON -- A House committee approved a Democratic bill yesterday that would begin public subsidies of congressional campaigns and tacked on an amendment to restrict President Bush's use of Air Force One. The legislation, backed by House Speaker Thomas S. Foley, passed the House Administration Committee by a 14-to-10 vote and was scheduled for full House action next week. Lawmakers of both parties cast doubt on its future. The legislation would grant federal matching funds to...
HOUSE VOTES TO EXTEND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS
Associated Press
November 15, 1991WASHINGTON -- The House yesterday resoundingly approved a $5.3 billion bill to give extra benefits to the long-term jobless. But efforts to speed the measure to President Bush for his promised signature were slowed by Senate critics who complained it wasn't generous enough.
By a 396-30 vote, the House sent the Senate the compromise measure, which was crafted after Bush joined a Democratic effort he long resisted.
Enactment would mean that 3 million people who will have used up the...
LIBYANS DENY ROLE IN PAN AM BOMBING
Associated Press
November 16, 1991ROME -- Libya denied yesterday that its intelligence agents carried out the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and called for a neutral investigating committee to look into the case.
In Washington, the Bush administration rejected any international inquiry. US and British authorities indicted two Libyan intelligence officials on Thursday in connection with the December 1988 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.
US officials said they believe the bombing also involved...
Great post.
The American dollar is down, the Canadian dollar is the highest in a decade, the Euro has doubled in value in two years. Walmart is noticing that shoppers can afford only the cheapest items and shop mostly on paydays.
We can all forget what the DOW is supposed to mean and what the corporate shamem are telling us. We only need to look around. And it does look like something we've seen before -- only worse.
Posted by: Karlsfini at November 14, 2003 09:45 AM