This is more corroboration that the economy, particularly the production side, is responding to the pick-up in demand we saw in the third quarter.

The economy needs stimulus now, so bring forward some [of the] tax cuts [scheduled for later years], but cancel the last piece scheduled to go into effect in 2008. That would help the short-term economy, and it's better for long-term fiscal probity.

These patterns combined with poor fuel economy in our cars makes transportation the biggest and fastest-growing contributor to global warming. Any meaningful effort to address global warming must include forward-thinking transportation and smart growth solutions.

You have to look at these numbers over a few months. Coming in, we had several months of very substantial gains. The basic picture is that business spending is bottoming and showing some signs of improvement, but it's not really robust.

You have to look at these numbers over a few months. Coming in, we had several months of very substantial gains, ... The basic picture is that business spending is bottoming and showing some signs of improvement, but it's not really robust.

We've been waiting for something like this for a long time. But we need to resist the temptation to put too much weight on any one month's report -- probably the best thing to do is to average out the past few months; that gives a clearer picture.