WHITE PLAINS, NY – Even though the U.S. economy is slow, conditions are still quite good, said Forbes magazine chairman Caspar W. Weinberger at the Direct Media 2001 Client Summit and Co-op at the Renaissance Westchester Hotel held here yesterday.
Weinberger, former defense secretary under President Reagan and chairman of the Federal Trade Commission under President Nixon, said that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong and that the stock market is a bad indicator of economic conditions. As an illustration, he pointed to Amazon.com, which has never made a profit but has a stock price exceeding that of companies with profits and clear assets. He urged businesspeople not to ignore politics and said the current administration is friendly to business.
Weinberger also said he favored privatization of the U.S. Postal Service, a proposal that was discussed during the first Nixon administration. The plan was not adopted, but discussions led to the creation of the quasi-independent agency that exists today.
He said he also opposes restraints on the free flow of information. “The freer the flow of information, the better the world will be,” Weinberger said.
