Um… yeah, about that…
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/12/opinion/topics-of-the-times-economic-bananas.html
TOPICS OF THE TIMES; Economic Bananas
JULY 12, 1989
Have countries threatened with retaliatory tariffs under the new trade law entered into negotiations with the United States? S. Linn Williams, deputy U.S. Trade Representative, says: ‘‘There are discussions. We can call them negotiations. They can call them a banana as long as it produces results.’’
Banana? It’s an economic euphemism with precedent. During the Carter years, a nervous White House enjoined Administration officials not to mention the dreaded word ‘‘depression,’’ or even ‘‘recession.’’ Alfred Kahn, the chairman of the Council on Wage and Price Stability, got the message. The next time he wanted to warn of economic trouble, he talked about ‘‘the worst banana you ever saw.’’
Washington’s semantic worries haven’t changed much since then. For months the Federal Reserve Board has been keeping interest rates high, out of concern over rising inflation. Now it appears to be acting instead out of concern over recession. Last week the Federal funds rate dropped a quarter-point, to 9 1/4 percent. The Fed’s chairman, Alan Greenspan, will be asked about the future course of Fed policy when he testifies before Congress later this month. Even under probing questioning he’ll probably maintain a cryptic, statesmanlike position, something like: ‘‘We have achieved our goal of moderating the economy.’’ In other words, banana.
