Differing markedly from the view of most economists, the people who run the nation's biggest companies say the recession is likely to linger for many more months, with a recovery not likely until next year. "There's no sign of recovery -- none at all," declared Henry B. Schacht, chairman of the Cummins Engine Company, a leading producer of such cyclical bellwethers as diesel engines. "The people who buy industrial equipment are not buying it."
One after another, individual corporate chiefs among about 100 members of the Business Council expressed skepticism in interviews and discussions over the past two days about the recession's ending this summer, thus staying within the average length of the eight previous post-war recessions.