[A. Pole]

From the beginning, the 2001 recession broke the rules. Most US recessions start when the Federal Reserve Board raises interest rates to cool an overheated economy. Then consumers put a brake on spending because they cannot afford to borrow more money. This is what happened to the first President Bush. Alan Greenspan and company in effect did him in. But the Fed did not start the 2001 recession. This one began when corporations stopped buying capital goods and the technology bubble burst. In fact, Greenspan and company have cut interest rates 12 times, to their lowest level in decades. Yet this curious recession goes on.

Wait a minute, wasn't the Fed raising the interest rates in 2000 to prevent supposed inflation? And number of times?

[The FRugitive]

Yea, I was wondering the same thing when I read that...as I recall it seemed that was the beginning of the end.

That and the Microsoft anti-trust case.

Our gov't likes to punish success.

[lone star annie]

Right they hiked rates 6 times in 18 months. In addition, Clinton cooked the books which hid the fact the economy was slipping in 1999 and into 2000.