Dana Johnson Economy Quotations

It's a little more evidence that growth in the economy has downshifted a bit, but that's what happens when higher energy costs take money from people's pockets.

To me, the one-two punch of the breakthrough of health care issues (with GM and the UAW) and this makes me feel better about the economy overall,

This reminds me of the famous Sherlock Holmes mystery, where the dog that didn't bark was the key. It was what Greenspan didn't say more than what he did say that got the market excited. People were ready to hear a more upbeat reading on the economy than he gave.

This is a crystal clear indication that the labor markets are very healthy and it reinforces the notion that the economy is growing in a healthy, sustainable way.

So far, I am encouraged to see how well the regional economy has weathered the job and income losses centered in the auto manufacturing sector. Mild winter weather and the Super Bowl no doubt helped to support the economy early in 2006. As those effects fade, I would expect to see some fall off in activity over the next several months.

There's no question the Michigan economy and Detroit metro economy have been lagging because of continued exposure to the auto sector.

I was really encouraged to see the rebound in activity in June and July. The local economy looks much healthier this summer than it did this past spring. However, a clear up-trend is not yet in place and probably will be slow to develop given the punishing level of energy prices and the prospect of more consolidation in the auto industry.

They view it that that is more likely to keep the overall economy performing in a relatively smooth way so that the seasonality - if there is any - in credit demands doesn't cause large swings in interest rates, which in turn cause activity to turn on and turn off in an erratic way.

I expected our index to tick lower in March, as the effects from the Super Bowl and mild winter weather faded. Looking ahead, our index probably will settle into a lower range, as the local economy struggles to overcome restructuring in the auto sector, higher interest rates, and elevated gasoline prices.

We did have a stumble. It was related a lot to the hurricanes, and it's very clear that the economy is bouncing back nicely in the first quarter.