http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre49f6u6-us-usa-fed-stern/ http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre49g325-us-comerica/ http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre49g6qt-us-usa-fed-evans1/
At the least, Evans said the economy is likely to be "very sluggish" well into 2009, dogged by the weak housing market and stress in financial markets that has spilled into the broader economy and siphoned away consumer spending power. "The housing market is a continuing strain, and we are experiencing disruptions in worldwide credit markets that are without precedent in the post-World War Two era," he said. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/...N=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULTFormer Federal Reserve Board vice chairwoman Alice Rivlin says major social changes are coming to America with the economic meltdown that has crushed financial and housing markets. She said some obvious things that need to be done include: -Stricter regulation of mortgage markets; -Uniform standards that call for minimum down payments and proof of ability to pay; -Eliminating adjustable mortgage rates; -Granting power to bankruptcy judges to renegotiate mortgage loans; -Require rating agency fees to be paid by people who buy securities, not by those who sell them. "The good news is that the collective actions of governments and central banks has probably avoided a total meltdown of the financial systems," Rivlin said. But she said she disagreed with predictions by some that the economy could return to normal by the middle of next year. "A healthy skepticism about what any economist says these days is probably in order," Rivlin said. "We are in uncharted territory."
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