I support the recommendation.

Thank you again. Looking at the information that has become available in the few weeks since our last meeting, if one filters out the likely effects of the severe winter weather in parts of the country, the equity market gyrations, the waxing and waning of concerns over terrorist attacks and ...

Thank you. Dave, I saw a report last week that the 2000 Census had been adjusted further—by another 3.3 million people—to correct an undercount. And if my memory is not already failing, the rolling forecast initially had numbers that were 7½ million or so lower than the ...

The first paragraph mentions the discount rate action but without identifying the Reserve Banks whose pending actions have been approved. Is that going to be added?

Thank you. I think the Vice Chairman’s description of the virtues of 50 basis points and balanced risks versus 25 and the risks tilted toward weakness is correct, and I won’t repeat that. But to me the issue is more one of a change now versus no change ...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Our recent Business Advisory Council meeting wasn’t nearly as downbeat as Cathy Minehan’s, and maybe it’s because at least one member who didn’t show up was from a company in bankruptcy! [Laughter] The general sentiment of the group was summed up by ...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I concur with your recommendation because I think that the near term is dominated by uncertainties of a global nature. For the longer term, though, all deflations or disinflationary impulses are not equal. And deflationary pressure in the goods sector coming from extraordinary productivity gains in ...

So we heard! As for his view on the economy, this small businessman described it as “saw-toothed with a positive bias.” That’s just the way they talk in Kentucky, I think. The saw teeth are obvious in the month-to-month changes that are regularly reported. But ascertaining whether or not ...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. After listening to all kinds of people over the summer, I’ve come to the conclusion that perhaps I should always listen to equal numbers of manufacturers and retirees because manufacturers always want lower rates and retirees always want higher rates. Or maybe better yet, I ...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It’s a comfort to me to know that Al Broaddus is worrying about deflation because it means that I’m free not to give it much thought. [Laughter] I want to ask Karen a question about Canada and how much we really know about the ...

I understand, but it still leaves me uncomfortable thinking that hedging activities by Fannie Mae work the same way as hedging activities by anybody else. That’s not obvious to me, given the nature of what they would have to do if rates were to move substantially against them.

Okay. But that still leaves me a little puzzled about how good of a hedge this is. Except for the idea of callable debt, which I hadn’t thought about as a course of action they could take, what are the alternatives? If they had previously hedged, whether by using ...

Thank you. Dino, with regard to your reference to the possibility that the decline in longer-term U.S. Treasury yields is associated with Fannie Mae’s hedging needs, I’ve seen that mentioned in the press too. I know nothing about the flows through Fannie Mae. But the presumption must ...

Wow! [Laughter] I certainly agree with leaving the rate unchanged. Uncertainty about financial statements has created more headwinds than I had expected, and now I have a feeling that they’re going to last longer than a lot of people may be thinking. So if that means the balance of ...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I had absolutely no desire to speak last this morning. In fact I thought I had indicated the desire to speak early, but it seems that my presence at the table has already begun to fade! [Laughter] Had I spoken earlier about the region, right after ...

Second.

I support the recommendation. I don’t have any trouble saying that the risks are balanced, but I won’t say that the uncertainties are balanced because that would be an oxymoron. And in my view we do have to think about that.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First, I want to make a comment about state and local finances, an issue that several people have mentioned. I think that is going to be a concern for some time. The census numbers for the State of Ohio indicate that during the decade of the ...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. First a comment: Microeconomic principles would have led me to think that a move from a high inflation environment to a low inflation environment would cause an increase in what we call productivity, though I don’t know how I would go about directly trying to ...

I agree.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Probably the best indicator that economic activity in the region continues to improve gradually, yet business people remain very cautious, is the widespread increase in the demand for temporary workers. Like Mike Moskow, we have heard more about that recently, especially from advisory council members and ...

A question. Quite aside from intervening in the narrow and short-run sense, have your conversations gotten into issues of long-term considerations about the appropriate level of our holdings of securities denominated in foreign currencies? We hold securities in two currencies right now, and we got it down to those two ...