INVESTMENT: Cutting Back the Orders

During most of the nation's yearlong slide into recession, the strongest element in the economy was businessmen's willingness to spend on new equipment and expanded facilities. Companies were eager to buy because they expected the slowdown to be short and shallow, and as recently as last month the backlog of orders for capital goods still stood at a healthy total of $75.5 billion. Those orders and the pent-up corporate demand that they represent have served as a welcome moderating influence on the depth and duration of the recession.

More Cutting. Now, however, as frightened consumers retreat further into their shell...

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