Even as China's economy has roared, the stock market has rarely inspired public confidence or great interest.

The tug made sense when the economy was roaring along.

The economy, after grumbling to a halt late last year, roared back in the first quarter, growing at a 2.8 percent annual rate.

Yet for all that the economy is roaring along, there has been almost no inflation.

Forty years ago, the economy was roaring along.

Michigan's economy, fueled by the automobile industry, has roared back.

It therefore sat on the sidelines as the economy roared ahead, pulling the unemployment down to levels the Fed had thought dangerous.

These reports, suggesting that the economy was roaring ahead with inflation remaining under control, buoyed the market.

Meanwhile, the economy roared ahead, growing at annual rate of more than four per cent in the period from 1983 to 1988.

"When David Bishop entered this process, the economy was roaring and the agencies probably had a little to give," he said.