Some think Fed has left it too late

[dArKeR]

NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , WASHINGTON
ADS1 Tuesday, May 18, 2004,Page 12

It will probably be six weeks before the Federal Reserve curtails its policy of cheap money, but a growing number of analysts worry that it may have already waited too long.

The pressure to raise rates has increased over the last month, after the federal government reported that job creation surged in April for the second month and prices rose markedly in both March and April.

Commodity prices have soared in the last year, with crude oil for delivery in June settling at US$41.38 a barrel on Friday, the highest since the contract was first traded. The prices of many industrial raw materials are at their highest levels since the late 1970s.

Wholesale food prices surged 1.4 percent last month, after a similar jump in March. The so-called core rate of retail inflation, excluding food and energy, has climbed at an annual pace well above 3 percent in the last three months.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2004/05/18/2003156027

[On the Road]

1. The Problem Is

that they were waiting for the party to start before taking away the punch bowl.