This is meant as no disrespect to the family of Billy Mays. Rather, it is intended as utmost admiration of the man. My house and garage are full of the products - almost two of each product - that Billy Mays advertised on basic cable television. He was one of the best salespersons I have ever seen. I would purchase almost anything Billy Mays was selling.

With his passing, my personal saving rate is bound to rise and I suspect the saving rate of many other Americans' will also for the same reason. Although this will hurt retail sales, it will help business capital spending as we purchase more corporate bonds rather than Mighty Mendit tape. (By the way, I suspect that Mighty Mendit would be great to repair tears in a spinnaker. And if you order now, you might get two kits for the price of one. Just pay the extra shipping and handling fee.)

Billy, may you rest in peace.

Paul Kasriel is the recipient of the 2006 Lawrence R. Klein Award for Blue Chip Forecasting Accuracy

By Paul L. Kasriel & Asha Bangalore
The Northern Trust Company
Economic Research Department - Daily Global Commentary

Copyright © 2009 Paul Kasriel
Paul joined the economic research unit of The Northern Trust Company in 1986 as Vice President and Economist, being named Senior Vice President and Director of Economic Research in 2000. His economic and interest rate forecasts are used both internally and by clients. The accuracy of the Economic Research Department's forecasts has consistently been highly-ranked in the Blue Chip survey of about 50 forecasters over the years. To that point, Paul received the prestigious 2006 Lawrence R. Klein Award for having the most accurate economic forecast among the Blue Chip survey participants for the years 2002 through 2005.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of The Northern Trust Company. The Northern Trust Company does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of information contained herein, such information is subject to change and is not intended to influence your investment decisions.

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