USA: FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN, ALAN GREENSPAN SPEAKING TO THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORK ON THE ECONOMIC PROSPECTS FOR THE COUNTRY.

Record ID: 646923

  • Title: USA: FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN, ALAN GREENSPAN SPEAKING TO THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORK ON THE ECONOMIC PROSPECTS FOR THE COUNTRY.
  • Date: 19th December 2002
  • Summary: (U3) NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 19, 2002) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. HAS/WS/PAN: INTERIOR OF BANQUET HALL FOR THE ECONOMIC CLUB OF NEW YORK. 0.10 2. HAS/MV: PEOPLE LISTENING AT DINNER TABLE 0.14 3. SMV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE CHAIRMAN, DICK GRASSO, SAYING: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honour and privilege to introduce for his seventh appearance, the 13th, and in my estimation the finest chairman in the history of the Federal Reserve, the honourable Alan Greenspan." 0.38 4. SMV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN, ALAN GREENSPAN, SAYING: "Thank you very much. Dick, I was more than willing to have you just stand up here and continue. I was enjoying it immensely." 0.54 5. MV: PEOPLE AT TABLES LISTENING TO GREENSPAN. 0.58 6. SCU; (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREENSPAN, SAYING: "The increase in output per hour over the year ending in the third quarter -5.5 per cent - was the largest increase in several decades. That pace will not likely be sustained, but it suggests that the underlining supports to productivity growth have not yet fully played out. Against that background, any significant fall in the current geopolitical, and other risks should noticeably improve capital outlays, the indispensable spur to a path of increased economic growth." 1.40 7. MV: PEOPLE AT BANQUET TABLE LISTENING. 1.45 8. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREENSPAN, SAYING: "As I testified before the Congress last month, the United States is nowhere close to sliding into a pernicious deflation. Moreover, a major objective of the recent heightened level of scrutiny is to ensure that any latent deflationary pressures are appropriately addressed well before they become a problem." 2.11 9. SCU: MAN AT BANQUET TABLE LISTENING TO GREENSPAN. 2.16 10. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) GREENSPAN, SAYING: "I venture that future invitees to the Economic Club of New York dinners will not lack interesting problems to address. Thank you very much." 2.28 11. ZOOM OUT/WS: OF GREENSPAN STANDING AND BEING APPLAUDED. 2.41 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 3rd January 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA2K6UKTW4LL6LS0UU9UYZ9ZPX5
  • Story Text: The U.S. economy still is working through a soft patch,
    but growth should accelerate next year if global tensions ease
    and corporate profits improve, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan
    Greenspan has announced.



    Speaking to the Economic Club of New York, the Federal
    Reserve chief said there was no reason to fear the United
    States was at risk of price deflation as he delivered a
    cautiously upbeat assessment of future prospects.

    Without mentioning Iraq, Greenspan said geopolitical risks
    had risen sharply and put a damper on demand. But he indicated
    that there was underlying strength in the U.S. economy.

    "The increase in output per hour over the year ending in
    the third quarter - 5.5 per cent - was the largest increase in
    several decades. That pace will not likely be sustained, but
    it suggests that the underlining supports to productivity
    growth have not yet fully played out. Against that background,
    any significant fall in the current geopolitical, and other
    risks should noticeably improve capital outlays, the
    indispensable spur to a path of increased economic growth,"
    Greenspan said.

    He said there was scant chance of the United States
    falling into a deflation spiral.

    "As I testified before the Congress last month, the United
    States is nowhere close to sliding into a pernicious
    deflation. Moreover, a major objective of the recent
    heightened level of scrutiny is to ensure that any latent
    deflationary pressures are appropriately addressed well before
    they become a problem," Greenspan said.

    Some economists have expressed concern the U.S. could fall
    into a deflation cycle like the one that has bedevilled
    Japan's economy in recent years.

    Greenspan said that since U.S. central bank policy-makers
    cut interest rates by a half percentage point on November 6 to
    a four-decade low 1.25 per cent for the federal funds rate,
    there have been signs the economy was getting past a bout of
    weakness.

    Still, Greenspan said, low interest rates and rising rates
    of productivity were helping support economic activity.

    Greenspan returned to a theme he addressed last summer --
    whether or not the Fed should have been more alert to the risk
    of the "bubble" that developed in U.S. stock prices in the
    1990s, so the aftermath of the collapse in prices after March
    2000 might have been less severe.

    Trillions of dollars in wealth was lost when stock prices
    tumbled, prompting criticism of the Fed for failing to do more
    to prevent it.


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