“Manufacturers are still selling a lot in the United States but their lack of pricing power in the top-line really puts a lot of pressure on them to become more efficient.”
“Though there are some prices that are declining, in fact deflation means most prices are declining and there's very little evidence that is happening.”
“It certainly takes the edge off the possibility of them doing something soon. There is no reason to raise U.S. interest rates without an inflation problem and risk some of the customers for some of the overseas economies. They need us to buy their goods.”
“It's still fairly high by historical standards. There's starting to be some influence of higher interest rates and the more volatile stock market, but not much influence yet.”
