>>>I wonder why NO SOLUTION WAS OFFERED? I wonder why the solution of stopping the movement of manufacturing operations to off-shore locations wasn't suggested?
>>>
>>>Does anyone reading know what the "solution" is for "deflation"? I'd sure like to learn it.

If you are thinking of buying a shirt, you could wait a few months, hoping that its price will fall because of a factory moving overseas. But you probably won't wait for that reason. Factories have been moving overseas for decades. Generalized deflation is what is happening now in Japan (where many of our factories went) and what Alan Greenspan is beginning to worry about. The price of everything keeps falling, so nobody wants to buy today, and the economy keeps shrinking and reducing spending capacity. The only solution I have seen is to improve on economic fundamentals and hope that things get better. Mr. Greenspan might not have had anything to propose that was specific to the problem of deflation.

It is also worth noting that the chairman of the Federal Reserve (if that's his correct title) is not responsible for making overall economic policy. That's just as well, since he is appointed, not elected. Mr. Greenspan is an exceptionally influential and widely respected chairman, so his statements get a lot of attention. He considers it his job to be very careful about what he says. He endorses tax cuts, but not with too much enthusiasm, and criticizes deficits, but not with too much alarm.