By the Numbers; Asia's Brightening Economy May Push Some Clouds Our Way
The worse it got, the better the economy worked for most companies and consumers in the Washington region -- and most Americans, for that matter.</br></br>Cheap goods from Asia helped restrain inflation, boosting U.S. consumers' buying power. The Federal Reserve nudged interest rates down to head off a wider crisis, making housing, business expansion and consumer credit purchases more affordable.</br></br>"The Asian crisis was terrific for the American economy, except for manufacturing. Ironically, the recovery [there] will have the opposite effect," said Anirban Basu, director of applied economics at Towson University's RESI, a regional economic research institute.</br></br>Exporters in Virginia and Maryland whose sales to the Pacific Rim were battered by the crisis are due for better results this year and next.</br></br>"We expect exports from Virginia will improve [next year]," said Ann Battle, an economist with Chmura Economics and Analytics in Richmond. "Some of that should be evident already."