SBE Council Chief Economist Statement on Industrial Production

Raymond J. Keating, chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), issued the following statement regarding the Federal Reserve’s release on industrial production:

"The Federal Reserve’s latest estimates on U.S. industrial production piled on the bad economic news. Industrial production has declined in three of the last four months, and from May 2007 to May 2008, it declined by -0.1 percent. Over the past six months, manufacturing output was flat in three, and shrank in two of those months, with output falling by -0.3 percent over the past year.

"Various negatives are battering the economy, including energy costs and the housing woes. But public policy decisions come into play as well. With the November election, the threat of major tax increases looming and a do-nothing-productive mentality governing energy policy in Congress, businesses and investors face huge, negative uncertainties. Those uncertainties will continue to dampen entrepreneurship, investment, production and growth."