Adding the Games may heat up the economy to the point where it runs up against shortages in materials or labor. The effect may be a higher cost of living across the province, cost over-runs on Games projects and intensifying price and wage pressures in coming years.
Our view is that the U.S. economy was on a solid footing by most indicators going into the shock. If the Fed hints at being comfortable with this argument, then it will be a fairly clear signal that it is sticking to a measured approach to continued monetary tightening.
These two reports continue to suggest that the US economy was on fairly solid ground going into the shock effect of Hurricane Katrina,