At this time, even with housing markets cooling, the fundamentals remain favorable for solid gains over the coming months and quarters in both consumer spending and business investment. In part, that assessment reflects the sizable increases in employment that we have been seeing over the past year or so. Just last week, the Labor Department reported that payroll employment rose 211,000 in March.
Stock markets have grown very rapidly in recent years, especially in the emerging countries. The activity of non-bank intermediaries operating on a global scale and investing primarily in shares and bonds and other widely traded assets has developed, rapidly reaching a very substantial volume.