But economists reckon that, given his wealth - an estimated $13 billion - his family would be among the foremost beneficiaries.

In all, economists reckon that close to 50 percent of the economy is government operated.

So retrograde is Ukraine on questions of reform that some economists reckon it resembles a little Soviet Union.

UNLIKE almost everyone else, many economists reckon insider dealing is rather a good thing.

But economists reckon that most consumers will, as the Goods have done, shrug off the higher rates that have sent the stock and bond markets into a tailspin.

Although the dollar remains risky in the short run, most economists reckon that it will rally in the medium term.

The Fund's economists reckon that recovery is about to start in America, and that output there will grow next year by a perfectly respectable 2.7%.

Since such low rates are failing to revive growth, some economists reckon that the yield on long-dated government bonds would need to drop to around 7% to have much effect.

Several economists in the City reckon that controls on mortgages (not their own, of course) would be helpful, and that leakages would be small.

Without its China trade, economists reckon, the Japanese economy might not have grown at all in 2002.