He warned on Wednesday that oil was overvalued at the moment, given that demand was sluggish and that inventories tracked by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development were at 11-year highs.
Business demand is still sluggish in part because of the falloff in spending following the widely anticipated Year 2000 problem.
It hit when the factory day shift -- usually the most heavily worked -- had less than an hour to go, and at a time when demand is so sluggish that most products wind up in inventory anyway.
"The central threat to Asia and its trade flows is sluggish demand in the United States".
Corporations and consumers are still in debt over their heads, and demand in most industries is sluggish.
With export growth now slowing, Japan will have to rely more on domestic demand, but the economy is sluggish.
One big concern is sluggish demand for riding mowers, utility vehicles, turf aerators and other equipment used to groom golf courses.
FNB Bank in Johnstown, Pa., with $8.6 billion in assets, expanded its loan book by 5% last year, "but quite honestly, loan demand from our customers is sluggish," says Gregory Winger, senior vice president.
The richest Opec countries are still making enormous sums of money out of oil, but economic growth in the industrial world is sluggish, oil demand is weak, the dollar is feeble, Opec's current earnings are suffering and its currency reserves are dollar-top-heavy enough to give any self-respecting finance director ulcers.
The export boom is particularly welcome because it comes as demand for gasoline and diesel fuel is sluggish in the United States and American refineries have excess capacity to meet local demands.
By contrast, "real demand in the major consuming nations is sluggish, with declining industrial output and weakening construction".
