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Tough talk on inflation, first by US Federal Reserve officials, then by Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, has got the markets rattled. Last week all the leading equity indices retreated, with the S&P 500 down 2.7 per cent, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 1.8 per cent, the Nikkei off 2.6 per cent and the FTSE 100 off 2.1 per cent. It looks as if investors are questioning the notion that the US, and to some extent the world economy, has entered a new "Goldilocks" phase with growth neither too hot (risking accelerating inflation) nor too cold (risking...

Commentary: Greenspan describes Goldilocks economy By Paul Erdman, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 5:59 PM ET April 21, 2004 HEALDSBURG, Calif. (CBS.MW) -- "We try to be forward looking, not only in terms of whether we'll move or not move on a particular date, but what does that imply on a whole program of change, if indeed we are changing." No, it was not that Persian philosopher of ancient origins who spake these words of clarity and wisdom from on high. This sentence was uttered this week by the somewhat less ancient Alan Greenspan to a Congressional committee and a financial world...