February 20, 2006
YOU MEAN IT'S NOT THE SECOND GREAT DEPRESSION?:
Bernanke's testimony helps economy (MICHAEL J. MARTINEZFebruary 20, 2006, Chicago Sun-Times)
Turns out that the economy is doing pretty well, after all.Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's congressional testimony sparked a major rally on Wall Street last week, with the Dow Jones industrial average hitting a new 41/2-year high after the Fed chief gave a bullish assessment of economic growth for 2006.
Throw in strong earnings from Hewlett-Packard Co. and oil prices that dropped below $60 per barrel for the first time this year, and investors saw opportunities to buy in the stock market.
For the week, the Dow gained 1.8 percent, the Standard & Poor's 500 index was up 1.6 percent and the Nasdaq composite index rose 0.91 percent.
I feel personally betrayed by Paul Krugman. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 20, 2006 9:23 AM
Paul's waiting for the revelations at the Ken Lay trial to finally eclipse all those stories springing out of Sept. 11.
Posted by: John at February 20, 2006 12:51 PMJohn:
What's unbelievable is that an editor let him say that in the newspaper of the city that was hardest-hit.
Also, he continued to defend the assertion weeks after making it. Me, I'd have woken up the next day, taken a look at the op-ed page, and wondered if I'd had too many highballs at that $1500-a-plate NY Times charity event to raise money for homeless lesbian Iraqi dolphins. But Krugman kept confidently predicting that he'd be proven right, and if there's an alternate universe out there where his predictions ever come true, I for one am all in favor of readying the rocketship for his departure.
Posted by: Matt Murphy at February 21, 2006 2:45 AM