n. An economy that is not so overheated that it causes inflation, and not so cool that it causes a recession.
1999
America's "not too hot, not too cold" Goldilocks economy is getting too hot. The result will be 8% interest rates by next summer if the overheated, tech-craze-driven stock market does not crash first.
1988 (earliest)
The ''Goldilocks'' scenario, as Mr. Berner of Salomon Brothers calls it, would have the G.N.P. slowing in 1989 to an annual growth rate of 2 to 2.5 percent, then maintaining this level into the 1990's. This rate of expansion is considered by many to be the maximum that the nation can sustain without inflation.
But sustaining a steady growth rate of 2 to 2.5 percent requires just the right level of domestic consumption and overseas demand for American exports. Stephen S. Roach, senior economist at Morgan Stanley & Company, thinks they can be balanced for a while, giving the economy ''solid momentum continuing into next year.''
But the consensus view of most economists is that a Goldilocks economy cannot survive beyond 1990.
But sustaining a steady growth rate of 2 to 2.5 percent requires just the right level of domestic consumption and overseas demand for American exports. Stephen S. Roach, senior economist at Morgan Stanley & Company, thinks they can be balanced for a while, giving the economy ''solid momentum continuing into next year.''
But the consensus view of most economists is that a Goldilocks economy cannot survive beyond 1990.