There are more signs an economic recovery is at hand…Fed Chairman Alan Greanspan is upbeat…for a change.

On Thursday, Greenspan testified before the Senate Budget Committee on Capitol Hill that he’s seeing encouraging signs about the fate of the American economy. His remarks were in sharp contrast to a speech he made earlier in the month in which he warned of “significant risks” to the economy.
“There have been signs recently that some of the forces that have been restraining the economy over the past year are starting to diminish and that activity is beginning to firm," Greenspan told the Senate Budget Committee.
His testimony is also leading analysts to predict the Federal Reserve will not lower interest rates when it meets again late this month. Last year the central bank cut interest rates 11 times.
Greenspan also testified the big reduction in inventory of unsold business goods in recent months has helped set the stage for a pickup in industrial production, which has been in decline for than a year. He said the signs of an improving economy should bolster business confidence and help support a return to higher business investment spending, adding that cutbacks in business investment helped trigger the current downturn.