National

Recession May Be in the Cards

By Liane Hansen

Published December 9, 2007 at 5:00 AM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

New York Times reporter David Leonhardt assesses the state of the economy and says the recent housing bust has the potential to send the wider economy into a recession.

A job report the Labor Department released Friday shows the economy has weakened over the past year. It did not seem to suggest the economy was already in a recession, he said.

Leonhardt said President Bush's recent mortgage rescue program would help some homeowners stay in their houses longer, but because the plan is not designed to help everyone who is about to have mortgages reset, "its wider impact will probably not be huge."

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Liane Hansen

Liane Hansen has been the host of NPR's award-winning Weekend Edition Sunday for 20 years. She brings to her position an extensive background in broadcast journalism, including work as a radio producer, reporter, and on-air host at both the local and national level. The program has covered such breaking news stories as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the capture of Saddam Hussein, the deaths of Princess Diana and John F. Kennedy, Jr., and the Columbia shuttle tragedy. In 2004, Liane was granted an exclusive interview with former weapons inspector David Kay prior to his report on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The show also won the James Beard award for best radio program on food for a report on SPAM.

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