Boy, that Greenspan is good. Just two days after the Fed chairman raised interest rates to tap the economys brakes just a little, its already slowing down. The Commerce Department reported Thursday that GDP growth from the April-to-June quarter was actually 1.8 percent, instead of the 2.3 percent the government had estimated a month ago. In reality, of course, that has nothing to do with Tuesdays action - even with a strong market reaction, an interest rate hike takes at least six months to reverberate through the economy - but its sure got plenty to do with how the Fed spends its fall.

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"Its just more good news," says TIME senior economics reporter Bernard Baumohl (although that wasn't immediately reflected in the market, which took profits from Wednesdays record close). "This takes even more pressure off the Fed to raise rates again anytime soon; the economy seems to be slowing down just as it hoped." Thursdays report isnt a guarantee, though. Most of the slowdown was due to the trade deficit; imports arent counted in the GDP, although they do show up in the overall economy when cash-loaded consumers head to the mall. So inflation could still be lurking in the heart of the U.S. economy - but its not putting much fear in Alan Greenspans.