Among other things, the Minimum Funding Requirement (MFR), which in effect obliges pension funds to invest in gilts and quoted equities, will come under the Myners lamp.
But the MFR is widely bemoaned.
"Households are gradually altering their behavior in the face of large capital losses in investment and real estate portfolios, a weak labor market, and tight credit," Joshua Shapiro, chief economist for MFR, wrote in a research note.
Joshua Shapiro, chief United States economist at MFR, said the solid March increase in factory orders showed the January-March quarter ended with momentum, an encouraging sign for future economic growth.
"Much will depend on the consumer, and we feel that the headwinds for consumer spending remain too brisk to expect substantial help on this front as the year progresses," Joshua Shapiro, chief United States economist for MFR, said.
Financial market turmoil has weighed heavily on consumer confidence, along with the ailing jobs market, Joshua Shapiro, the chief United States economist for MFR, wrote in a research note.
Joshua Shapiro, an economist with the consulting firm MFR, estimated that a considerable amount of the recent activity was a result of the tax credit, and that housing starts would soon suffer another setback.
"Much will depend on the consumer," Joshua Shapiro, chief United States economist at MFR, wrote in a research note, "and we feel that the headwinds for consumer spending (the foremost of which are ravaged balance sheets and lingering labor market weakness) remain too brisk to expect much help on this front".
Once those statistical distortions fade, Joshua Shapiro, chief United States economist at MFR, wrote in a note to clients, "We suspect that the data will point to a soggy labor market".
Mr. Shapiro, the MFR economist, argues that companies have become permanently lean, mastering the art of producing more with fewer people — a trend with staying power.
"Not too long from now," says Joshua Shapiro of MFR, a research firm in New York, "you're going to need other demand to kick in".
