At InvestingAnswers, we always like to keep one ear to the ground, listening in for signs indicating what's next in the market's future. With the current state of the economy in limbo, we're anxious to know which way everything's heading. The not-so-great news about what lies ahead: Things don't look so good.
Here's what some of the most respected names in economics are saying:
1. 'The American economy is approaching a cul-de-sac of stimulus -- both monetarily and fiscally -- which will slow to a snail's pace, incapable of providing sufficient job growth going forward... Unemployment rates will approach and remain at double digits unless positive fiscal stimulus is provided in the next six months.'
-- Bill Gross, Managing Director of Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO), during the Conference on the Future of Housing Finance, August 2010
2. 'We are ready, and we will act if the economy does not continue to improve.'
-- Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman, speaking to the House Financial Services Committee, July 2010
3. 'We may need another stimulus bill just to decompress from the previous one, a smaller one to cushion the landing.'
-- Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University economist, speaking to McClatchy Newspaper, August 2010
4. 'Although deficits during or shortly after a recession generally hasten economic recovery, persistent deficits and continually mounting debt would have several negative economic consequences for the United States.'
-- Brief from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the budget analysis arm of Congress, July 2010
5. 'I'm not one of those deficit hawks. ...I'm not saying you run out and pull the plug and have an adjustment that could derail what fragile recovery we do have.'
-- Carmen Reinhart, University of Maryland economist, speaking to McClatchy Newspaper, August 2010
6. 'Unusually uncertain.'
-- Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chairman, speaking to the Senate Banking Committee on the state of the economy, July 2010
7. 'I'm very much in favor of tax cuts, but not with borrowed money. The problem that we've gotten into in recent years is spending programs with borrowed money, tax cuts with borrowed money, and at the end of the day, that proves disastrous.'
-- Alan Greenspan, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, speaking on 'Meet the Press,' August 2010
8. 'All of us should be worried about the fact that we have been running the credit card in the name of future generations… We've got to get our debt and our deficits under control.'
-- President Obama, speaking at a town hall meeting in Wisconsin, July 2010
9. 'This crisis – where we saw a full retreat by private financial institutions from many forms of mortgage and consumer lending -- provides a compelling illustration of why private markets, left to their own devices, find it hard to resolve financial crises.'
-- Tim Geithner, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, speaking at the Conference on the Future of Housing Finance, August 2010
10. 'All this ‘stimulus’ spending has gotten us nowhere, but it comes from somewhere. We are now borrowing 41 cents of every dollar we spend from our kids and grandkids. Think about that -- 41 cents of every dollar we spend.'
-- House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), speaking to The City Club of Cleveland, August 2010
