Word: ortner
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...fell 27% in the three months ending in October, but said that sales picked up in the first days after Thanksgiving, the traditional start of the all important Christmas shopping season. Several other retail chains, including Dayton-Hudson and K mart, are also reporting brisk holiday business. Concludes Robert Ortner, chief economist of the Commerce Department: "The odds still favor a very good Christmas." He thinks the drop in interest rates will bolster consumer confidence...
...heavy machinery and new factories needed for long-term growth. Spending for construction of industrial plants fell 24% last year, and is expected to be flat in 1984. Businessmen seem to be reluctant to make investments that will not return a sure profit within a short time. Explains Robert Ortner, chief economist of the U.S. Commerce Department: "There is a fear that deficits will strangle the economy, which creates uncertainty. And uncertainty is always detrimental to long-term business decisions...
...imported goods ranging from French wines to Japanese videotape recorders. A top-of-the-line German camera that cost $1,159 last year now sells for about $950. Experts estimate that the strong dollar has cut some $700 from the sticker price of a new Toyota Corolla. Robert Ortner, chief economist for the Commerce Department, says that the dollar's strength "makes the vast majority of consumers very happy. But they don't have a spokesman...
With rare unanimity, however, economists warn that the upturn, whenever it comes, will be painfully slow and gradual. Robert Ortner, chief economist of the U.S. Department of Commerce, ; observes that after past recessions the total output of goods and services on average has jumped 7% in the first year of recovery. "This time it will be less than that," he says. That is putting the case very mildly; many private economists guess that the upswing will be only half as vigorous as it traditionally is. Walter Heller, a member of TIME'S Board of Economists, has compiled a self...
...Goodson around these days. Such a free-spending attitude would help lift the economy from the painful recession that has gripped the U.S. since last July. Economists agree that the consumer is the most important factor behind the rebound that many expect to start in the summer. Says Robert Ortner, chief economist for the Commerce Department: "The consumer is going to have to bring us out of this recession. The other major sectors of the economy aren't going to contribute much, if anything...