Recession?

According to reports, National Bureau of Economic Research President Martin Feldstein says

"A recession in my judgment is more likely than not, but it's not a sure thing," Feldstein told a forum hosted by the Hamilton Project, an economic research group headed by former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.

However, in a survey of top forecasters, expectations for the weakest consumer spending performance in 17 years during 2008 kept the odds of a recession at nearly 40 percent.

Investment firm Goldman Sachs is predicting the U.S. economy will sink into a recession this year. Their report says the economic retreat could extend over two financial quarters and would likely push the unemployment rate up."The recent data suggest that the US economy is falling into recession,".

Goldman Sachs said it expects the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates aggressively, by late 2008.Goldman Sachs economists said in a research note, the impact of credit and housing woes is already being felt.