[Moonman62]

Hindering economic growth is inflationary. The funds rate needs to be brought down to market levels.

[Hydroshock]

“The high wage begins down in the shop. If it is not created there it cannot get into pay envelopes. There will never be a system invented which will do away with the necessity for work.”
— Henry Ford
There is one rule for the industrialist and that is: Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible.
— Henry Ford

[BlabItGrabIt]

LET’S GO, CHAIRMAN—CUT THOSE RATES TO SAVE THE HOUSING MARKET. CUT ‘EM YESTERDAY, SIR

[slackerjack]

Doesn’t the Ford CEO have better things to do? Like learning how to not manufacture crappy cars with poor gas mileage that noone wants to buy?

[PGalt]

Interesting thread. Thanks for starting.

[stockstrader]

This should read,,,

"FED CHIEF URGES FORD ACTION" instead.

How about if Bernanke urges Ford to do more to produce a better product instead of the other way around?

[VOA]

Ford CEO Alan Mulally became the latest high-profile business executive
to suggest that the Federal Reserve needs to cut interest rates

So we can buy Ford sedans of questionable durability?

(Hey, I hope Ford completes and does a turn-around of their
North American sedans. But, after decades of building good sedans
in Europe and Australia...they may just be too late to overcome their
image of CRAP cars here in the USA.)

[capitalist229]

Cars, housing, what's next you ask ?

Credit derivatives in the trillions. Nobody knows what they're worth and the Fed does not have enough money to prop them up.

BUMP

[ran20]

I’m predicting the fed is going to raise rates at the next meeting. I don’t think there is any way out except to bring savers and investors back into the bond markets. And they need higher interest rates to make it worth their while.

There is so much excess capacity in this economy now imo that it is killing real profit. But as long as corporations can constantly roll over debt, and pile on more and more debt at ultra low rates, with increasingly complex bond offerings.. they never die. Thats why Ford and GM are hobbling along yet losing huge money on many of the cars they sell. It doesn’t make any sense for the health of the market.

There is overcapacity in so many places like new strip malls opening up, while others are running way below capacity. Millions of McMansions being built hours away from cities. 1920’s was the same problem, overcapacity started killing profit margins. The only way out is an absolute hammer killing off the companies which aren’t making profit. Then we can regrow again.