Dr. Robert Kelly:

It is difficult to get consumer demand especially for personal finance. However, if one looks at something like consumer sentiment, which is a good indicator of the expectations of consumers, we have seen that fall quite dramatically through repeated shocks and high levels of uncertainty. We have seen a turnaround. It is up by about one third since September. I am of the opinion that there are high levels of uncertainty. We know from a long history that once uncertainty is high businesses defer investments and consumers defer big purchases. It will weigh to some extent on the demand for credit.