Word: slump
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Such misgivings threaten to turn the recovery, when it arrives, into a painfully weak one. Despite upticks in home sales and factory orders that indicate the 11-month-old slump could end this summer, economists say the ) rebound will be far less robust than any of the eight other U.S. recoveries since World War II. The outlook is bleak largely because the 1980s debt binge still hobbles companies and consumer spending and makes banks unwilling to lend. At the same time, the $318 billion federal deficit handcuffs Washington's ability to stimulate business by cutting taxes and boosting spending -- tactics...
...dozen such towns are already under construction. Seaside, their widely publicized prototype town in northern Florida, is more than half built. At Kentlands, a new town on the edge of Maryland suburbia outside Washington, the first families have just moved in, and vacant lots are selling despite the housing slump. In addition, the two, among the Prince of Wales' favorite architects, have helped design a town Charles plans to build in Dorset...
That small incident, as much as the debate between Rafsanjani and the conservative stalwarts, illustrates a revolution running low on zeal. Today Rafsanjani faces a population exhausted by eight years of war with Iraq, domestic political turmoil and a severe economic slump. The President seems to realize he must respond to those hardships, and thus has tried to ease the harsh enforcement of hijab. More important, Rafsanjani wants to end Iran's pariah status in the world community and gain desperately needed aid. "We are in a period of reconstruction," says Rajaie Khorassani, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee...
Travel may have picked up since the guns stopped firing five weeks ago, but Saddam Hussein's war is still claiming victims. Chicago-based Midway Airlines, its strength sapped over the winter by the war-induced spike in fuel prices and slump in travel, flew into the shelter of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, joining recent arrivals Continental Airlines and Pan Am (with TWA circling overhead). Midway's jets continue to fly, thanks in part to a $40 million loan from Continental Bank, which will be first to be repaid if the airline fails in its attempt to reorganize...
...More dramatically, 44% of those polled said last week they expect economic conditions to get better in the coming year, while 15% expect them to become worse; those proportions have almost exactly reversed since January (see chart). Real estate agent Christine Gainey-Colombo was so discouraged by the industry slump in northern New Jersey that just a few months ago she was seriously considering giving up and returning to her former career as a nurse. Says she: "Last year you couldn't give a house away, but now the change is incredible. I put in 84 hours last week...