Hints of a Recovery

Already,there are signs of economic healing,Mr.Summers pointed out.Key credit spreads are already substantially narrower than last fall.Credit costs are declining.It is our hope that the program will create virtuous circles.The housing cycle must be contained by direct intervention by GSEs to bring down mortgage rates,and through setting of standards directed at payment relief,preventing foreclosures.Lower mortgage rates function like tax cuts.Taken together,these steps address each of the vicious cycles.They will permit the normal processes of economic growth to re-engage over time,the former Treasury Secretary and president of Harvard University predicted at The Brookings Institution.