Peter Morici Quotations

We're starting to get into the zone where if this persists its problematic,

The plan lacks a clear statement of how Ford is going to get its labor and design costs in line with its Japanese competitors. Lacking that, Ford will not be able to offer vehicles that are competitive in price, quality and content.

None of this will fix GM's systemic problems or arrest its long-term decline.

Mortgage rates are going to go up, the long bond rate is going to go up. The only question is what is the precipitating event.

I don't expect consumers here will really see a 10 percent movement on the prices of imported goods, ... But for exporters, that 10 percent is very real.

GM's announced plant closings do little to address the underlying problems. It will be smaller, but its per-unit costs will still be too high to compete.

I think the worst is yet to come. I expect their market share to continue to shrink and their balance sheets to become more troubled.

The outlook remains poor. Production cutbacks at Ford and GM, mediocre personal income growth and record trade deficits all bode poorly for economic growth and jobs creation.

The outlook remains poor, ... Production cutbacks at Ford and GM, mediocre personal income growth and record trade deficits all bode poorly for economic growth and jobs creation.

The rating agencies and stock market are sending a clear message that the company will lose money for the foreseeable future and eventually go bankrupt. Bankruptcy is a serious option either strategically or as an eventuality.

The debt limit will be raised; no one expects otherwise. The problem here is Congress reconvenes around mid-January, and it isn't a lot of time they have to get this done. But they'll get it done.

This situation is likely to become worse in the months ahead.

Even in North America, (Toyota's) factory labor costs are lower because it pays a bit less for labor and is not encumbered by excessive benefit costs.

As the negotiations wind down, it is becoming apparent that the E.U. isn't interested or, at least politically, not capable of getting the job done,

As things currently stand, GM has too many brands, workers, managers, capacity and bureaucracy.

At some point the telecommunications (sector) has to stop shrinking.

As long as housing prices don't go down, consumers have more equity they can borrow against. If mortgage rates go up another 1.25 or 1.5 percent and pierce 7 percent -- watch out. That's when the housing bubble bursts and consumers would cut back on spending a lot.

This is a fig leaf. It's an attempt by the Chinese to do the least amount possible,

Americans continue to buy Japanese, Korean and German cars in large numbers and more consumer goods from Asia, in addition to more expensive crude oil and refined petroleum products from abroad.

This moderate wage growth should dispel any notions the Fed may hold (that) labor markets and spiraling wages could reignite inflation.

It's really the tale of two cities. For highly educated and highly skilled people, especially those who don't face competition from overseas, the job market is pretty good. For others, it's not so good.

Consumer spending has been pulling the wagon for a while now. That won't be the case next year.

The retail sector is enjoying a decent but unexceptional holiday shopping season.

The Fed now has limited leverage over the housing market. It has been unable to tap the brakes on the housing market.

Higher oil prices and a strong dollar will push the trade deficit to new record highs, with the monthly trade deficit likely exceeding $75 billion by mid 2006.

But when you find someone working on the assembly line at General Motors is making more than a Detroit policeman, you see that support start to decline.

Gasoline prices did rise in January. Spot prices for natural gas fell in December and January, but it is not clear how much of these markdowns filtered through to homeowners and commercial consumers.

The higher import prices are starting to bite and the lower import prices are starting to have an effect,' ... I think we can start to wind our way down to about $20 billion.

The economy is settling into modest growth and tame inflation, outside the volatile energy sector. Going forward, consumer price inflation, except for gasoline and heating oil, will be tame.