Economic Expansion

A Remington diner owner abruptly withdrew yesterday her liquor license application for what opponents say would be an intrusive nightclub in their residential community. Un Kim issued a conciliatory statement that said she was withdrawing the application "at this time." It had been scheduled to be heard today, and critics were eager to speak out. Kim added that she is "committed to the community" and intended to "take this opportunity to find a resolution that will make everyone happy."

Rabe F. Marsh Jr., 87, a former U.S. District judge who presided over some of western Pennsylvania's biggest trials, died April 19 in Plum. Among the defendants who came before him were reputed mob boss John S. LaRocca and former state lawmakers William E. Duffield and Frank Mazzei.* Patricia Peardon, 69, who created the lead role in "Junior Miss" on Broadway, died Thursday of pneumonia in New York. She made her Broadway debut at 17 in the comedy directed by Moss Hart. In the early 1950s, she acted in the TV series "Johnny Jupiter" and in 1955 performed on Broadway with Paul Newman in "The Desperate Hours."

AS WE CELEBRATE nine uninterrupted years of national economic expansion, there is one trend that we cannot be very happy about: the number of Americans without health insurance, particularly the decline in employer-based coverage. Since the economic expansion began in 1991, the number of Americans without health insurance has risen from about 36.3 million to more than 44 million persons, while the number covered by private employment-based coverage has fallen dramatically. Over this same period, the share of total national health expenditures paid by public funds has risen from 42 percent to 46 percent, while private health insurance payments have also fallen as a percent of total outlays.

The Chicago Tribune said in an editorial Saturday:THE astonishing American job machine -- the economic equivalent of the meteorological El Nino -- continues to confound. By all rights, the U.S. economy shouldn't have created more than a quarter of a million jobs in November, any more than we should have experienced record high temperatures in December. But it did.Industrial declineThe Asian financial crisis and its double whammy of cheaper imports and evaporating export markets certainly has taken its toll on the manufacturing sector.

Washington -- The U.S. economy, apparently already mired in at least a mild recession, will remain in a protracted economic bind that could last deep into the 1990s, well after a recovery from the current downturn begins, according to a growing number of economists.Voter discontent in last Tuesday's election, in part reflecting the deteriorating economy, could well erupt again in the 1992 presidential campaign."The 1990s will be the slowest growth decade since the 1930s," says Donald H. Straszheim, chief economist for Merrill Lynch Capital Markets.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Recent economic data indicate the economy has hit bottom, but any expansion so far is too small to measure, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said yesterday.Mr. Greenspan, testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, said that statistics "over the last several weeks strongly suggested that the bottom is somewhere in the second quarter," which ends June 30.He added, however, that "we see no measurable upward thrust" and said that employment is likely to remain sluggish for a while even when a recovery begins.

NEW YORK -- Stock prices closed mixed yesterday, as signs of economic expansion in the United States fueled demand for large companies expected to benefit the most from a recovery.The Dow industrials set a record for the second day in a row, while declines in bellwethers Amgen Inc. and Intel Corp. pulled the over-the-counter market from Thursday's all-time high. A late upswing in Microsoft Corp. narrowed the losses in NASDAQ issues.Interest-rate cuts in Germany and Japan, coupled with growing optimism about the U.S. economy, sent stock market averages to record levels Thursday.

WASHINGTON -- Giving the strong impression that the Federal Reserve has not yet finished raising short-term interest rates, Alan Greenspan told Congress yesterday that several harbingers of revived inflation required the Fed to remain "vigilant."In an appearance before the Senate Finance Committee, Mr. Greenspan, the Fed's chairman, avoided direct comment on the central bank's policy-making meeting next week.But in comments that echoed those of other Federal Reserve officials in recent days, Mr. Greenspan clearly implied that the economy remained too robust to count higher inflation out.Tightness in the labor market and other strains on the economy could "lead to some deterioration in the price picture in the near term," Mr. Greenspan said, "but any such deterioration should be contained if the Federal Reserve remains vigilant."

WHAT'S HAPPENED to Alan Greenspan? Back in December, the Federal Reserve chairman warned of "irrational exuberance" about the strength of the nation's long economic expansion. Those pointed, cautionary remarks sent stock markets into a steep and rapid tailspin.Yet this week the same Mr. Greenspan went to Capitol Hill to heap glowing praise on the U.S. economy, calling current conditions "exceptional." Has this become a case of "rational" exuberance?Mr. Greenspan's apparent turnaround stems from an incredible string of good-news indicators about the national economy that point to low inflation and moderate growth -- an unbeatable one-two combination.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Federal Reserve policy-makers were divided in holding the overnight bank lending rate steady on March 31, according to the minutes of the meeting.The Federal Open Market Committee voted 11-1 to leave the federal funds target unchanged at 5.5 percent. Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Jerry Jordan dissented, citing a faster- than-expected increase in the money supply that could ,, be an inflation threat.The FOMC also adopted a stance in favor of raising the interest rate target, if need be, to guard against inflation, as expected.