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July 18, 2009

Top US Advisor: 'US Economy Back from the Brink'
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=256D5D4:A6F02AD83191E16072025C9977BE8EB30531BB26A5003E7B&
 
Lawrence Summers says economy has made 'substantial progress' and is no
longer in 'free-fall' 
A top economic advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama said the country's
economy is no longer in a "free-fall" and substantial progress is being
made. Top economic adviser, Larry Summers, during a speech about the
economy in Washington, 17 Jul 2009Presidential Economic Advisor Lawrence
Summers said fears of an economic collapse that had gripped the nation
just six months ago are starting to ease."If we were at the brink of
catastrophe at the beginning of the year, we have walked some
substantial distance back from the abyss. A majority of businesses now
report that they expect improved economic conditions - the opposite of
six months ago," he said. The comments from Summers, a former U.S.
treasury secretary, came as investors and consumers were starting to see
some signs of improvement. Earlier this week, the second largest U.S.
bank, JP Morgan Chase, said profits jumped by 36 percent for the three
months that ended in June. And investment bank Goldman Sachs said its
profits!
  jumped 33 percent. Summers said that shows the president's $787
billion recovery plan is working."Let me be absolutely clear. There is
no financial institution that would be reporting the kind of positive
results that we have seen in the last quarter but for extraordinary
public support provided by the government," he said. Some leading
technology companies, including Intel, IBM and Google also said they
expect the economy to grow stronger in the next six months. Still, there
are signs that the economy is still struggling. The most dramatic, a
report Thursday that found one out of every 84 homeowners has been told
they are in danger of losing their home. Rick Sharga is with the real
estate information services company Realty Trac:A bank-owned property in
the North Hill neighborhood of Fairfax, Virginia (File) "We anticipate
we will see over three million homes get a foreclosure notice this year.
We probably won't peak until close to the end of this year," he said.
Critics of the Obama administration also point out the U.S. unemployment
rat
e stands at 9.5 percent and that top economic officials say it will
likely peak at more than 10 percent. Presidential Economic Advisor Larry
Summers admitted there will be setbacks, but he said the U.S. will
emerge with a stronger, export driven economy. 


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