In his chapter about Iran,
Risen reveals two disastrous CIA blunders.
After having
risen somewhat in other recent months, the utilization of total manufacturing capacity was up appreciably in August, reaching its highest level since the spring of 1995.
Market interest rates generally have declined somewhat since the day before the Committee meeting on May 20, 1997; share prices in equity markets have
risen considerably further.
Chiefly responsible were rents in Eastern Westchester and Stamford, which have
risen 26.3 percent and 20.1 percent, respectively.
The total debt of the other sectors has
risen at a roughly constant pace over the past few years, even though the growth rate of nominal output has been increasing.
In addition, the percentage of households telling the Conference Board that jobs are plentiful has
risen sharply of late, which suggests that workers may be growing more confident about the job situation.
Short-term market interest rates have registered mixed changes since the Committee meeting on November 13, 1996, while long-term yields have
risen slightly.
Business inventories, most notably in the automotive industry, had been brought into better alignment with sales, and industrial production and employment had
risen appreciably.
Over the past twelve months, the consumer price index excluding food and energy items has
risen 2 3/4 percent--near the lower end of the narrow range that has prevailed since early 1994.
The strength in durables and the weakness in nondurables continue their patterns of the past year or more; the output of durables has
risen 6.8 percent since June 1995, and the production of nondurables has declined 0.6 percent over the same period.
Utilization in coal mining, which had
risen 5 percentage points in March, fell 4 percentage points, to 82.2 percent.
After increasing at elevated rates in the early part of the year, consumer and producer prices had
risen more slowly in recent months.