51.   Falling rates on short-term government securities influence domestic bank rates, as they use the government rates as a guideline.

52.   Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan suggested last week the Fed could raise rates as a preemptive strike to make sure inflation remains tame.

53.   Few analysts expect the Fed to raise rates as its policy-making committee meets today and tomorrow.

54.   Fed officials cited a low inflation rate as one of the reasons for the rate cut.

55.   Federal Reserve policymakers view a rising plant-use rate as a sign that inflation could accelerate.

56.   First, it showed that productivity is slowing at the same rate as the overall pace of business, reassuring economists that technological advances have improved efficiency.

57.   For months, Fed policymakers have resisted the temptation to raise rates as job growth swelled and unemployment fell.

58.   For proof they cite studies in which people who received no medication improved at about the same rate as those given placebos.

59.   For time deposits of longer maturity, banks use yen-denominated swap rates as a yardstick to decide deposit rates.

60.   Gephardt espouses a variation of the flat tax but one that retains graduated, or progressive, tax rates as income goes up.