National Association for Business Economics news release: “Business economists have become more negative on the economic outlook for the next several quarters as a result of the tightness in credit markets and weakness in consumer spending, expecting growth to stall in the fourth quarter,” said Chris Varvares, NABE President-elect and president of Macroeconomic Advisers. “If financial conditions fail to improve quickly, near-term economic prospects could deteriorate markedly. Still, the NABE panel expects that lower oil prices, a bottoming out in home prices, and a better functioning of financial markets should enable the economy to resume trend-like growth by the second half of 2009.”