What is the outlook for the U.S. economy in light of the global crisis?
The most likely scenario is solid growth and low inflation. But what has happened abroad has affected certain sectors significantly–for example, agriculture. The risk to our economy has increased as this financial instability spreads and the problems abroad have become greater. It is important to the U.S. that the international community continues everything that is sensible to try to minimize the damage. We in the U.S. need to continue to do everything possible to keep our economy growing, because that is very important to the health of the global economy. It is imperative that we get [International Monetary Fund] funding. Q: Why was there a bailout of Long-Term Capital Management? A: That wasn’t a bailout. That was an agreement among [creditors] and Long-Term Capital Management, whereby the counterparties, in effect, bought 90% of what had been Long-Term Capital. What the Federal Reserve Bank of New York did was to convene [a meeting]. These creditors made their own private-sector d
