[quote=DWCAP]I must not get it, but I dont understand why that article was so bad. So the recession is ending, when you define recession as simply a decreasing GDP, and recovery as a not decreasing GPD. Techincally, considering the unpressidented amounts of money spent/printed in the past 12 months, it shouldnt be suprising that GDP is rising. Cash 4 clunkers made alot of people go out and buy a car, raising GDP. 3.5% FHA loans induce people to buy houses, especially when that 3.5% came from a tax rebate for buying that house. Billions were lost saving the automakers, and AIG, and a few banks (though that will be interesting to see in the end how much we lose). And those billions are circling the economy, slowly, making people buy/spend.
That is all the article was about. The Federal reserve is reporting that GDP is no longer declining, the techinical definition of an end of a recession.
Now I (and alot of other people) think this is the upward slope of a W recession, as consumer spending is still down, consumer credit is still contracting and at a higher rate (ie no consumption rebound) and techinical factors like inventory stocking for the Xmas season end in January. Especially when this Xmas season is gonna suck for alot of retailers.
With all the cash the government has flooded the economy with, it shouldnt be a suprise we see a ‘calming of the waters’ for a while. Shouldnt the media report that? Even if anyone who is paying attention with more than a kindergarden education knows that the level of intervention it took to get this isnt sustainable.[/quote]
DWCAP, I can’t speak for Socratt, but I think what is upsetting is the fact that the media attempts to use these numbers to give the public a false sense of security. You and I both know that the apparent “stabilization” in our economy is really nothing of the sort. Real and lasting damage is being done at a fundamental and structural level while the populace sleeps and dreams of green shoots. The “stabilization” is illusory, and when the media spins an illusory stabilization, it misleads the clueless and gives them a sense of false hope that things will return to normal and that we will resume our regularly scheduled programming shortly. It’s just tragic because people don’t understand that this time it IS different, and the “numbers” don’t mean what they used to (especially unemployment and GDP stats). While the media is reporting facts, why doesn’t it bother to mention the fact that the gaggle of countries itching to dump our currency is growing daily? Why just the mention of selective facts that give the impression that the worst is behind us? It just seems disingenuous and, from a journalistic perspective (okay, let’s overlook for the moment that this country’s last real journalists have already died or are about to die), it’s just demonstrates a complete lack of integrity.
