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An exerpt from an article in thestreet.com:
The Money Train Steams Ahead
By James Padinha
Economics Correspondent
1/25/99 3:05 PM ET
The M2 measure of the money supply is growing at its fastest
pace since February 1987. Real (inflation-adjusted) M2
jumped 4.4% in 1997 and vaulted another 8.2% last year; not
since 1971-72 has it posted such a big two-year increase to
land at such a strong growth rate. The M3 measure of the
money supply is growing at rates not seen since January
1985 ...
The 1998
increase in bank credit went down as the second biggest
since 1985; real-estate loan growth, which in 1997 turned in
its best performance since 1990, accelerated during each of
the final three months of 1998.
Pay particular attention to the money numbers because,
as
the FOMC concedes, "monetary growth does appear to
provide some information about trends in the economy
and
inflation." Consider that the Fed thought them
important
enough six months ago to point out that "the rapid
growth of
M2 and M3 over the first half of 1997 was consistent
with the
unexpectedly strong advance in aggregate demand."
Regards
DanG
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