The problem is that labor has basically priced itself out of the market. We had a very sharp run up in compensation costs in the late 1990s. People got too expensive and they're still too expensive.

Economists are notoriously bad at predicting turning points. They're like credit ratings agencies, they don't anticipate things very well.

I guess you could (say) that the Fed sees the light at the end of the tunnel. They believe that they have taken a lot of accommodation out of policy now.

And rates are not likely to be adjusting downward. Households are paying about 13.75 percent of their aggregate tax income to service debt -- and it is going to go higher.

It's growing rapidly, and it does suggest that we're going to see at least a temporary pickup in economic activity.

O'Neill was like the offensive line of the Green Bay Packers playing in a dome -- they can't hear signals. O'Neill couldn't hear the signals the White House was sending, and they got rid of him. Presumably, Snow has better hearing.