[quote=harvey][quote=CA renter]
Livin’ gets it, Brian. Sorry, but the Fed did not save the day. They’ve only prolonged the recession and will end up making it worse because the problems are continuing to pile up with every passing year.[/quote]
Uh, the recession ended in 2009, when the Black Eyed Peas are at the top of the charts and “octomom” was in the headlines.
You might want to tune in some OMI and check the business section of the newspaper.
Oh wait … newspapers went away years ago, just like the recession. This works too:
GDP is a very clumsy way to measure how well the economy is functioning. It doesn’t address whether or not the money is being spent wisely or sustainably, and it doesn’t address the allocation of the benefits of production.
I prefer to look at real wage growth and purchasing power, in particular. This is how growth and recessions are defined by people who live in the real economy, not economists in ivory towers.
Of course, we must also look at debt levels — and how that money is being spent — since that will often help determine how the economy will do in the future. Self-liquidating debt is usually good, but consumer debt is usually bad, especially if it’s being used to offset declining wages/purchasing power.
