Finally, over recent months, there has been a tendency for markets to judge countries and their exchange rates by the “new economy model”. Ironically, this is exactly the period when US technology stocks have languished. I should now conclude by saying something about the implications for monetary policy.
Although economic activity in the United States is likely to be temporarily slowed by the effects of the recent powerful hurricanes, experience suggests that the economy will maintain its momentum toward recovery, underpinned in part by demand for reconstruction.