The goals of the nation’s policy makers and the means of accomplishing them were in full view this week, with the president presenting his case for another blockbuster economic package before a joint session of Congress and the Federal Reserve providing its latest missive on monetary policy.

While it was a light calendar week for key economic data, positive news on the health front, more evidence of an improving job market and the prospect of additional fiscal aid all point to solid growth in coming quarters.

The fire under economy’s growth engine has been ignited and the flames should burn brightly for months to come.

Most of us remember the quote from the Obama administration during the Great Recession, but it was actually Sir Winston Churchill who first said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.”

Separating signal from noise is always a difficult challenge for economists and policymakers, and that task becomes ever more complicated when unusual weather intrudes.

For years following the inflationary spiral of the 1970s, the Federal Reserve’s biggest challenge was to convince the public and financial markets of its inflation-fighting credibility.

The core consumer price index edged up by a slim 0.1 percent in February and the increase over the past year actually slipped from 1.4 percent to 1.3 percent.