Peter Morici
Peter Morici
Peter George Morici, Jr. is an American economist and Professor of International Business at the R.H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is a graduate of SUNY Albany in New York State where he received his Ph.D in Economics in 1974. He is a nationally syndicated columnist, with his articles appearing in many publications such as The Washington Times, The Hill, Townhall.com, Newsmax, and several regional newspapers throughout the United States. Morici often appears...
clear costs design ford japanese labor lacking lacks line offer plan quality statement vehicles
The plan lacks a clear statement of how Ford is going to get its labor and design costs in line with its Japanese competitors. Lacking that, Ford will not be able to offer vehicles that are competitive in price, quality and content.
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Higher oil prices and a strong dollar will push the trade deficit to new record highs, with the monthly trade deficit likely exceeding $75 billion by mid 2006.
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This moderate wage growth should dispel any notions the Fed may hold (that) labor markets and spiraling wages could reignite inflation.
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As long as housing prices don't go down, consumers have more equity they can borrow against. If mortgage rates go up another 1.25 or 1.5 percent and pierce 7 percent -- watch out. That's when the housing bubble bursts and consumers would cut back on spending a lot.
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The retail sector is enjoying a decent but unexceptional holiday shopping season.
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But when you find someone working on the assembly line at General Motors is making more than a Detroit policeman, you see that support start to decline.
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The higher import prices are starting to bite and the lower import prices are starting to have an effect,' ... I think we can start to wind our way down to about $20 billion.
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I don't expect consumers here will really see a 10 percent movement on the prices of imported goods, ... But for exporters, that 10 percent is very real.
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The Fed now has limited leverage over the housing market. It has been unable to tap the brakes on the housing market.
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As things currently stand, GM has too many brands, workers, managers, capacity and bureaucracy.
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Consumer spending has been pulling the wagon for a while now. That won't be the case next year.
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GM's announced plant closings do little to address the underlying problems. It will be smaller, but its per-unit costs will still be too high to compete.
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Even in North America, (Toyota's) factory labor costs are lower because it pays a bit less for labor and is not encumbered by excessive benefit costs.
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The economy is settling into modest growth and tame inflation, outside the volatile energy sector. Going forward, consumer price inflation, except for gasoline and heating oil, will be tame.