Source: Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Year 2000 bug will not likely cause permanent damage to the U.S. economy, a senior government official and private-sector economists said Monday.

Charles Steindel, senior vice president for the [Federal Reserve Bank of New Yor]k, said businesses may face disruptions from changed buying routines, however.

Many companies are bulking up on inventory in case of problems with the supply chain. If no Y2K trouble emerges, those businesses are likely to curb buying early next year -- a fluctuation that Steindel called mild.

At a special Senate hearing here, he likened this accumulation to an "approaching storm that fails to strike." And should computer trouble emerge -- the storm actually hits -- resources will be diverted to fixes and recovery, and the economy will then return to normal.

The Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem is holding hearings around the country to assess Y2K readiness. The bug stems from a common programming practice that uses only two digits for the year. Computers that are not updated could misinterpret "00" as 1900, creating potential problems ranging from billing errors to power outages.

The committee's chairman, Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, warned that business and government leaders simply do not know whether preparations are adequate and projections accurate.

Bennett raised concerns about disruptions abroad affecting U.S. businesses, noting that auto companies might not get foreign parts needed and consumers might not get fresh produce from countries such as Chile. He added that much of the petroleum Americans use come from countries "that are wholly unprepared."

This may affect the United States, he warned. "The question is, 'How much?'"

But William Dudley, director of the U.S. Economic Research Group at Goldman Sachs & Co., said U.S. businesses are generally not dependent on those least prepared countries.

Most of the Y2K impact, he said, will result from precautionary efforts to build inventory. "Y2K will have noticeable but far from cataclysmic effects on U.S. growth," he added.

Publication date: Oct 25, 1999
) 1999, NewsReal, Inc.

-- Boner Heanfang (hats@inhellfry.com), October 26, 1999

Answers

***

Happy days are here again !!!

Well, that's the message they are trying to give...

BUT...

NOBODY KNOWS WHAT THE OUTCOME WILL BE YET !!!

Buy some insurance against Y2K.

"It's not the odds, it's the stakes."

Prudence and caution should rule, not happy-go-lucky rhetoric.

***

-- no talking please (breadlines@soupkitchen.gov), October 26, 1999.

"It's not the odds, it's the stakes."

"Of course it's the odds, dumbass!" --Me

-- (duh@duh.duh), October 26, 1999.

"If no Y2K trouble emerges"

Ahh yes, the big if...

Tick... Tock... <:00=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), October 26, 1999.

The representative from the Fed also stated that as of 010100, sliced bread will have fewer holes, everyone will look and feel 10 years younger, and blow jobs will last 25% longer.

-- a (a@a.a), October 26, 1999.

Of course there will be no PERMANENT DAMAGE TO THE ECONOMY. Everything eventually works out. Even the last depression worked itself out after a number of years. So why worry? If it takes one year or twenty years, it will work out. Now there, everything looks so much better now, no?

-- Dr. Polly Dork (DrPollyDork@moron.com), October 26, 1999.

Hey duh, would you still say it's the odds and not the stakes if you were playing Russian roulette? That's what I thought.

-- pizzaman (cjwarner@yahoo.com), October 27, 1999.