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Bernanke also suggested recently that extending the Bush tax cuts, at least for a while, would be "one way" to "maintain a reasonable degree of fiscal support
-- stimulus -- for the economy." But Democrats and Republicans are divided on what to do. Most Republicans want to make permanent the tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2003. That would amount to nearly $3 trillion over the next decade. Democratic leaders want the cuts for the wealthiest Americans to expire. That leaves the work of jump-starting the economy for the time being to everyday Americans and businesses, who can spend money and accelerate the cycle of growth. But both are in a frugal mood. Mortgage rates have sunk to record lows: Rates on 15-year mortgages dropped to 3.92 percent this week, 30-year mortgages to 4.44 percent. Still, people aren't scrambling to buy homes or refinance the ones they already have. Businesses, meanwhile, are sitting on a record $1.84 trillion pile of cash, according to the Fed. They aren't using the money to expand operations or hire new workers because they, too, have doubts about the strength of the economic recovery. Across the Atlantic, economic growth for the 16 countries that use the euro clocked in at 1 percent during the second quarter, with Germany leading the way. The U.S. grew 0.6 percent during the same period. Those figures aren't annualized. On an annualized basis, however, the U.S. economy grew at a 2.4 percent pace in the second quarter, about half as fast as it was growing late last year. And it may turn out, as the manufacturing sector is hurt by declining exports, that growth right now is even slower than we think. The U.S. stock market, which had managed a significant rally in July, is now absorbing the blow of the economic pessimism. The Dow Jones industrial average fell this week from about 10,700 to about 10,300. The key, says former Fed governor Randall Kroszner, is making people feel more comfortable and confident that their jobs are secure, and that the values of their homes and 401(k) accounts will stabilize. It's just that no one is sure where that confidence will come from. "There is certainly no magic bullet to immediately turn things around," he says.
[Associated
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