Ahead of the Tape
Putting Supply and Demand Together Again</br></br>If you build it, will they come?</br></br>Two reports Friday morning, industrial production and the consumer-price Index, should help answer the question.</br></br>There is a lot of faith that rebuilding inventories will boost gross domestic product and even pull the economy out of recession. The concept is simple: Companies start producing more products, which boosts or at least stabilizes employment and wages, which drives consumer economic activity.</br></br>There is only one problem. Producers haven't been producing much. And consumers haven't been demanding much, either. Market watchers are eager for signs that one or both of those things are starting to change.