What you people need to realize is that we are in a recession. The media has nothing to do with it at this point LOL. Stop trying to be optimistic in the face of reality. Oh yeah, and if we aren’t being raped over fuel, why is the price of fuel in China 1.48 a gallon right now? The .50 cent tax from our government won’t make up for that difference. We are being raped by the oil industry. Actually we are being selectively raped along with any country involved with us. G.W. went to war with the wrong country (of course if Cheney had told him Iraq was in South America he probably would have believed it), so maybe it wasn’t really his fault. We get less than 15% of our oil from Iraq the majority comes from Canada and then Venezuela. Chavez is laughing his butt off right now. We should have invaded Canada, what were we thinking. If we had done that we could have gone after the terrorist Alec Baldwin who is reportedly hiding up there in the Canadian wilderness somewhere.
Microsoft has a profit margin 3-4 times that of of Exxon Mobil. Are they “raping” the consumer? If you want to reduce the price of gas, you could do it overnight by dropping the government taxation, which is roughly 50 cents on every gallon, or about five times what the oil companies make on a gallon. Is the government raping us?
I say “yes”.
Plain and simple…the American consumer has had enough of the almighty oil industry rapeing it’s wallet. That’s why people are holding on to their cash. Come down on the price at the pump and the consumer will spend once again. Soon to be feeling the crunch this summer will be the hot vacation spots where families spent generously over the past couple of years. Not this summer!! Get ready beach resorts, you’re gonna be in for a looooong dry season. And the murchants will weep for they will have no-one to buy their goods.
Bob Sterling, It don’t matter if you’ve voted for or against George W. Bush, we all “get it” in the behind in the end.
We are what the media reports and the sad part to many people REACT to those reports rather than remember where they got in the market; if you bought in around $9,000 you are UP 33%
On Wall Street “the trend is your friend.” Wild swings in the market are not friendly. Save yourself by going into cash.Four percent interest is better than being in a hole. For those of you who voted for George W. Bush, I hope you lose your behind.
I’m actually consider the state of the stock markets to be a relief. Call it perverse, but for the past year i’ve been holding my “investment” cash in regular savings accounts at 4.5% APR waiting for the inevitable drop in the stock market. Now it’s here, out comes the money in a month or two to purchase the same stocks at a 20-40%off sale!
Oh yeah, and the real estate market started faltering back in August 2005. I know because I was in luxury car sales at the time and realtors suddenly stopped leasing the luxury cars to impress clients that month because they knew they wouldn’t be able to pay the payments by mid 2006.
More power to the frugal few who did not imbibe at the all night credit party over the past several years. You know some of the frugal few. They are your neighbor who drives the ten year old car, the guy in the office who does not have an “equity” line of credit, your brother who never pays the credit card man any interest, or the guy sitting next to you in the restaurant who whips out a wad of cash to pay his tab while the smartly dressed guy driving the latest and greatest uses plastic to add another log on the fire. While others suffer the hangover of debt, the frugal few enjoy a bright morning and have the wherewithal to make the most of it. The debt piled up by many people since 2003 proves that a recession was already here a few years ago. Readliy available cash leveraged by a housing bubble and reckless lending covered an otherwise weak economy. Nothing like spending OPM and getting yourself on the life long easy payment plan. As dismal as it sounds, to a great extent none of the above matters to the frugal few who are now in a strong cash position with little or no debt and thus able to buy equities at historical lows and real estate at distressed prices while living within their means. When the recession ends, they will sell you back what they bought at a discount and increase their cash positions. I say again, more power to the frugal few!
Let’s try to remember that how your portfolio is preforming, and how our national economy is doing, are not the same thing. Too many people saying that “The we’re in a recession, we must be, beacuse my stocks are not doing well.” Different topics.
Tues. Feb. 5: down, down way down again today the market goes.
The bear has left his cave and only a complete idiot would deny the reality. Recession resides; depression is trying to force open the door.
Batten the hatches.
The media loves to use the “R” word – it sells hits to the sights. Yes, housing is in trouble, to be sure, however the more the media works to play this up by only posting bad news, and ignoring good news, the more likely the average consumer is to “hold off on that next purchase; after all, the media says a recession is coming!” This will become a self fulfilling prophecy. Thanks media.
How to tell? Consult a competent astrologer, seriously; big money does.
He or she can tell you if, when, and how long it will last.
They all know.
Scoffers, prove me wrong.
Well, when I read the weekly commentary from my stock market expert and they start with comments like, “Well, this isn’t exactly how we like to start the year.” or “It could have been much worse.” or “Fasten your seat belts.” and then today it says, “If there is an upside to the down market…..”
I must vote, “Yes” we are in a recession. Supposedly these recessions only last about 8 months in our new century economy, so the question should be, “How long is this recession going to last?”
Quite a few blame the media and tell everyone we should close our eyes and not even use the “R” word. The media can be blamed for many things, like setting war agendas and trivializing journalism, but the bad economy will not disappear just because people pretend it doesn’t exist. You’ve gotten a little too comfortable with reality TV to think this is the way it works. No, we are not in a recession, it is a longterm downward trend that has actually been happening for about the last 30-40 years, and the utterly irresponsible acts of the Bush administration in the last 8 years is simply the last straw. Look at the longterm currency markets to see the reality of the chronically weakening dollar. In the next decade we will see the rest of the middle class get wiped out, and there will be mainly a relatively few extremely rich, and then the great mass of Americans, the hardworking poor who just won’t be able to make enough to pay all the bills. For many that is already reality (whether on TV or not), and this economic blight will undoubtedly continue until most Americans are utterly enslaved by our increasingly worthless fiat currency. On the other hand, I think most will have enough to eat, so it is all relative– but yes, America is going to be a second-world country by 2030. As for those discussing this in Wall Street terms, of quarters and economic cycles, you are simply blind.
We have no choice but to buy products made in China. They are no longer manufactured in the United States. Before we start waving our Flags and singing God Bless America, remember that it was the global free marketeers and the elected officials who support them and who were elected by us, who paved this path to economic self-destruction. They got rich beyond imagining and now its time for us to pay for it.
The word “recession” is arbitrary. The govermnent invented it in the 1970s to describe the collapse of the enconomy after Nixon took us off the gold standard, combined with the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. The term was used, so that we wouldn’t have to use the term previously used: depression. remember, byt the time government declares we are in a “recession” we’ve already been in one for six months. The word is actually silly. We are already experiencing job losses, inflation, negative growth, decreased foreign and domestic investment, a declining Dollar, falling stock markets, a credit crisis and consumer spending is grinding to a halt. It’s only going to get worse before it gets better. Just how bad it will get remains to be seen. So who cares if the government wants to call what’s happeninga recession or not. It makes no difference; it’s happening.
Yes, we are in a recession.
People who want to sell their homes are bitter that the prices are dropping and they missed the peak. Sounds strangely familiar; it reminds me of people holding on to stocks hoping for a comeback, only to lose more as prices keep dropping.
As Benjamin Franklin said, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.” Too bad the 21st century borrowers and lenders didn’t listen.
I don’t think any of the elected officials should bail out the lender or the borrower. But they will. Just look at their track record; they feel sorry for illegal immigrants who broke the law to get here and break the law staying here. If these alleged caring politicians feel sorry for illegal immigrants, then you know they will feign the same caring for the buyers that bit off more than they could chew.
Guess what, America? All those tv’s, stereos, electronics, clothes, cars, useless gadgets, toys, etc. you bought marked “madein China/Malaysia/HongKong/
Singapore/Korea, etc. with your hard-earned dollars? They are buying up U.S. companies by the boatload WITH OUR OWN MONEY we sent over there.
Soon we won’t own our own nation; the int’l megacorps will have it all.
No wonder we’re in hot water.
One thing Americans don’t like to think about: to citizens in most third-world economies, our “recessions” would mean undreamed-of prosperity.
We are so spoiled.
Whoever defined a recession as two consecutive bad quarters must live in a D.C. ivory tower.
Even the best performing stocks are down 10 to 20 percent from last May.
The rest have been hammered 20 to 40 percent, some even worse, including the hot Chinese stocks traded on Wall St. Investor confidence is absent.
For the most part, only oil services and certain natural resources and metals stocks have avoided a big loss.
Even most ETFs have taken a 10-20% hit.
If a recession isn’t here yet, you can now hear it coming down the ‘pike.
Our country is in trouble. For facts, do your own research.
I’m 75, still working.When I “retired” 10 yrs ago, gas was around 1.29 to 1.49. As little a 5 years ago it was around 1.79 or so. Look at it now.
My 99c bread of a year ago is now 1.99 PLUS. My rent was $500, now it’s almost $900. Milk was 1.49/half gallon, now 3.19 PLUS. OJ was 1.29, now over $3. Eggs-1.00, now 3.00/doz.
My security job paid 8.50/hr, now only $10.00.
Granted, I’m on the lower end, but that’s where a very large percentage of seniors, the poor, the disabled and others are now. Most of us have to double up to pay the rent.
Prescription costs are thru the roof.
For us, the recession is ongoing.
BUSH next HOOVER?
YES – this country will be reeling for decades to come due to the criminal mismanagement of our economy by the freaks that are currently in the Whitehouse. Bernanke’s cuts reek of desperation and the stimulus package is a joke and represents even more debt borrowed from China that we’ll pile on future generations. It’s game over for this incompetent government as there are no more bubbles left to save the day.
Subprime grew, it has been recognized, and we are overcoming it. The future is looking bright! Now is the time to invest even more. Diversify as much as possible and watch the financials bounce back! Its just that easy. Thanks Bush for the stimulus, now I can invest even more.
If you want to know if we’re in a recession or correction, go to CNN Money and look up the 6-month charts for NYSE, Nasdaq. and Amex.
That should tell you what has happened and is continuing to happen.
Welcome to reality.
As a commerical banker, we’re creating the credit crunch; the regulators are always late within the credit cycle, the enforce tighter lending standards thus usually causing greater problems. Instead of being proactive the regulators are usually reactive and thus causing a major credit crunch. If COMMERICAL bank’s tighten up any more on lending, then yes, we could very well go into recession.
If we do enter a recession, it’s going to have been caused by Wall Street. The regulatrs will cause the main street banks to stop lending to business and thus causing a real slowdown.
Thanks Wall Street, enjoy all of your Billions in bonuses!
US of A is going to get bought over by the foreign nationals really soon. One day all the children will speak Mandarin Chinese and maybe some of your daughters will wear arabic head-scarves.
Do blame the Bush government. They have a war that wastes your tax money and wastes the lives of fine young men and women at the frontline. But then, with high employment, where else could they be?
But yourself as an American citizen, rally, rise up. Educate yourself and break out of debt. Live within your means. Curb your spending.
US of A is going to get bought over by the foreign nationals really soon. One day all the children will speak Mandarin Chinese and maybe some of your daughters will wear arabic head-scarves.
Do blame the Bush government. They have a war that wastes your tax money and wastes the lives of fine young men and women at the frontline. But then, with high employment, where else could they be?
But yourself as an American citizen, rally, rise up. Educate yourself and break out of debt. Live within your means. Curb your spending.
Deep Doo Doo. I saw this coming a few years ago and tried to warn friends not to buy a house. It looked to me like the whole thing was built on borrowed money, because real incomes have been going down the loo for years, and people have been borrowing to make up the difference, even to pay for basic necessities. The buying power of an hour of work is less than half of what it was in the 70s, and last time I checked, there were still only 24 hours in a day. The only real path to recovery is more jobs that pay a living wage, and I don’t see that happening any time soon. My little business has gone down about 20%, and my discretionary spending has gone down to zilch. I am in a business that is very sensitive to the economy. Yikes!
I agree with the comment from earlier, it appears to us (Michigan) that we are in more of a Depression, than a recession. I just hope the rest of our country is’nt hit as hard as we have been, and continue to be here in Michigan. God help the USA
If the media would put aside everyday the recession word and not impregnant it into our minds…there WILL NOT BE A RECESSION……shut up MEDIA…rt
I am more convinced than ever after reading some of the tripe here that we have an economically illiterate President presiding over an economically illiterate electorate. Is it too much to ask for people to understand that market economies are cyclical? Furthermore, we are ending the 4th longest bull market IN THE HISTORY OF THE DOW. What do you think happens when bull markets end? Please, before you write something stupid like, “GOP Presidents suck and the economy is all their fault and we need a Democrat in the White House,” just ask yourself, how long do you think this slowdown will last? I know of at least one model that has this going until 2012, +- 2 years. That means this could last the entire term of the next President. So sure, lets elect a Democrat so I can enjoy all the “wisdom” of this economically illiterate electorate. Remember this, the geniuses who vote will blame whoever is in office, which is nonsense. Go Hillary!! (I’d rather have her than McCain anyway.)
Collective data is looking in the past. Recession (history’s version) is when spending exceeds income. We have been receeding for years now and finally even the optomists are noticing. See it even more when you watch CNBC and the anchors saying that the economy is fine. Play the recording backwards and you hear them begging for cash. After all the instutitions can’t make money unless they take it from unsuspecting people(they call them investors, uugh, right) 401K’s get the price at the ending of the trading day. The markets are manipulated to take advantage of this.
A worse problem is offshoring production. Companies hire people away from their farms and into the city. What will happen when these countries economies flop because the United States is a place lower than a recession? Millions in the cities and not on the farm. Not enough food, supplies or services. Concentrations of people in these circumstances will lead to civil unrest and the loss of human rights and increased human rights violations. The so-called strong will stomp on the poor until rebellion ignites. Geez’ is this happening anywhere in the world today. Look around. Pull up your chair and turn on the TV, your going to see our history unfold before your very eyes. “And you have to ask if we are in a recession”. What you should be asking is “What are the results of greed” or “What are the results of greed.”
Wake up, America! You’re caught between a rock and a hard place.
The megacorps want all your money and the dems want to turn the world into a Socialist state.
The bloodsucking CEOs and their brethren the politicians in D.C. are having their way with us. But they all pray we’re not paying attention.
The solution,if there is one? Stop buying foreign-made useless gadgets and save some of your money. Vote the idiots out of office.
Demand corporate accountability.
The Amerititanic has hit a berg; get your lifeboat ready.
It’s obvious from the comments that a large % of people are already feeling the effects of this downturn.
There’s; a saying that “if someone tells you something you may choose to ignore it. If 2 people tell you the same thing, you might think about it. If 3 people tell you the same thing, you had better pay attention and take action to remedy the situation.”
Stocks tanked last June 8 and have been yoyoing downward ever since.
If that doesn’t signal a “recession”, then what the hell does?
Investor and consumer confidence is at their lowest point in years.
My little portfolio took a 25% hit before I came to my senses and sold it.
Hi America, welcome to the poorhouse.
The media cries “recession, recession, recession”, people get scared and stop spending, and pretty soon we’re in a recession. Most people couldn’t give the economic definition of recession, but are being convinced we are in one.
Why would anyone respond to this question? All comments will be translated into another statistic to be used and abused by anyone who has a product to sell. (Bad news or good news or insurance or get rich schemes)
Hope it all goes well in America !!
Don,t wake up now !
If we do not invest in the middle class then yes we will go into recession. Maybe even into economic collape!
I can’t wait for the landslide to come.
America is morally bankrupt; pre-emptive strikes, lies, ignoring Kyoto Agreement, supporting Middle East dictators, ignoring nuclear arms treaty, executive side letter, deficit spending.
Forty years wandering is painful, however America’s arrogance is at least 40 years old
Sometimes severe measures are needed to cure the patient.
In a recession? No, in a “pinch.” The subprime lenders aught to be in recession because of their loose lending practices.
The barrowing consumers face higher cost of living especially food, gasoline, natural gas, and electricity so they are walking from their big ARMs. They are in a “pinch.”
Those consumers that are debt-free and the major corporations are not feeling the “pinch” so heavily.
Some sectors by definition already are in a recession. Others are being pulled down by the slowing of the overall economy!
Why the Gov’t believes it to be a bad thing for consumers to pull back and save their money is beyond me?? Over spending and too much debt is the cause for our problems! Going further into debt will NOT help the economy for the long haul!!!
The Fed continues to make poor decisions, as does our Gov’t.
The US Gov’t which his Trillons of $$ in debt; handing out money and bad advise to consumers who are billions in debt!! This will help how?
It’s all in the eye of the beholder!
The beholder being the general public.
The NEWS baby! The NEWS! Perception is key
Our country is definitely in a recession (or depression). Jobs are hard to find (even with a college degree); We have unemployed people that the government doesn’t even count any longer. Homeless people are on the rise. The government failed to regulate (or check out) the loans people were getting from mortgage brokers and banks. Anyone who worked in real estate knew the lid was about to blow off! With California people making mortgage payments of $5000 to $10,000 a month on a home–it’s only a matter of time before everyone gets hurt (homeowners and banks together). So, why didn’t the government step in before this all happened? Are they not smart enought to see what was going to happen? Even I could see the writing on the wall. And now Bernarnke is scared that the stock market might crash and is going too fast on lowering the rates. Just think if the rates had never been lowered so much in the first place–all the investors wouldn’t have bought all the homes they did–and just maybe the country wouldn’t have deteriated so fast. Bush turned his head the other way while all this was happening. It tells you who really cares about our country.
Too much is based on corporate earnings. Most corporations are not owned or invested by americans. I would like the definition of DEPRESSION. I think that is where we are headed. Americans without cash or credit. Talk about something hitting the fan.
In the GREAT Words of MLK, Jr. (And Yes, I am a White, Caucasian Adult Male who Holds ABSOLUTELY NO PREJUDICES WHATSOEVER…), and I quote, “We Shall OverCome, We Shall OverCome, We Shall OverCome SOMEDAY…Ohhh Deep in My Heart, I Do Believe, That We Shall OverCome SOMEDAY…” My Only Wish is for Every CEO in this Country to Get a Sweet Taste of what’s it TRULY Like Going from Middle-Class to POVERTY… due to all the bereaucratic LIES and RED TAPE in this Country… I LOVE IT When the CEO of the company I work for tells us how Important we, the employees are to our organization… PLEASE, How Many Times Do I need to hear THAT NONSENSE !! We Are as Important to the CEO and their Organization as we are to the US Government, which is a plain, rotten joke… The only thing the US Government is concerned about is collecting their taxes, reducing the overall tax rate on the wealthy, and turning our GREAT Country into a Third World Nation. It’s only a Matter of Time ’til China, Japan, and Mexico take us over…Why? Because CORPORATE AMERICA and the GOP SAID SO…
It’s funny, most of the comments are blaming someone else for the problems. The problems start in individual households. Stop going into more debt and live within your incomes. If you want to be paid more that people in China, you need to have more skills than they do. A recession may slap a lot of people in the face but maybe that is what this country needs to get us on track. Also, a better economy will only raise commodity prices including oil. Recession will not be the problem. STAGFLATION will be the HUGE problem for a country who is addicted to debt. The party is over and the hangover is here!!!
We don’t even define the term “recession” properly. Economists say that a recession is 2 or more quarters of falling GDP. But this doesn’t factor out population growth. If the population grows 1% and the economy grows 0.5%, economists don’t call that a recession, even though people are worse off. If we corrected for population growth, recessions would be recognized as starting earlier, ending later, and going deeper, than we currently admit.
Furthermore, we ignore the distribution of income. If 90% of the population sees its income fall 1%, and 10% of the economy sees its income rise 11%, then on average there’s no recession, even though 90% of the population is worse off.
Are we in a recession now? If more than 50% of the population see their inflation-adjusted income falling, then let’s call it a recession.
LOL…{:o) Could’ve fooled me… Do I think we’re in a recession? My answer to that is I thought we’re already in one… The Bush Administration has done a wonderful job of taking us down this path… I believe the Bush Legacy will go down in the history books just as Herbert Hoover’s did. What’s more, if we don’t get a Democrat in office effective January 2009, I think it’s gonna get a heckuva lot worse before it gets any better. Let’s face it, John McCain’s policies won’t be ANY DIFFERENT THAN THOSE OF GEORGE BUSH’S. The GOP just doesn’t get it. They can’t seem to focus on the Big Picture. But then again, to a bunch of multi-millionaires, what do you expect? That’s like saying the CEO of ABC Company really cares about his/her employees. The Good Ol’ USA is now solely engulfed in CORPORATE GREED, GREED, GREED and POLITICS, POLITICS, POLITICS… The Little Man doesn’t mean ANYTHING to the US Gov.’t and until PEOPLE WAKE UP and SMELL THE ROSES, IT IS NOT GOING TO GET ANY BETTER !!
I believe we are in a rolling Recession where not all business are in trouble but some industries are! The Oil industry is doing well on the backs of the citizens of the USA. It would stimulate my economy if gas prices went down $1.25 a gallon. As for not building any refineries because of environmentalists,the oil companies could have negotiated with Mexico many years ago to build a refinery just across the border from Texas, New Mexico, Arizona or California and put the Mexican people to work on their own side of the border and we would have plenty of gas. Yes we have some recession and the oil companies and the Bush administration are on top of my to blame list!!!!!
Quote:
Some of the comments posted above are legitimate, but others appear to be financially struggling people trying to blame greedy corporations instead of themselves for the situation they are in. It is not the companies that are greedy, it the people who are stock holders that want a return on their money. Seeking a return is not greed, it is common sense. Investing in companies promotes hiring, R&D expenditures, etc., that all have a positive effect on the economy.
Someone had a comment on “tax cuts for the rich”, it is more like tax cuts for those who actually pay most of the taxes.
Posted By Steve, Weston, CT : February 4, 2008 2:38 pm
end quote
Investing is no longer promoting hiring, its promoting offshoring, its promoting hiring H1B’s as cheap labor when they were intended to augment an inadequate skilled labor force. All for a greater “return on investment”. That’s just greed.
As far as tax cuts for the rich:
I’ll bet I pay a bigger percentage of my income in taxes than any millionaire does, as does most of the middle class who collectively pay more than all the rich combined. The rich do NOT “actually pay most of the taxes”
by any stretch of the imagination.
I’m financially struggling because I can’t get a pay raise anymore and neither can anyone else who actually works for a living. Changing jobs from a layoff or relocation guarantees a pay cut.
Our money is building China’s military and its space program, along with the technology they steal outright.
We are already in a recession and have been since the fall!
Let’s face it, middle-class America IS the economy. All the interest rate changes don’t affect the rich or the poor. Rich already have money and poor don’t. They rely on yearly income tax returns that are more than they PAID in taxes for their yearly jolt.
Now, my wife and I make OVER 150K. Which isn’t a lot in the northeast but in Florida it’s really good. If people like us are changing our spending habits, the economy is in trouble and guess what….WE HAVE…along with all of our friends. Where we used to go out once or twice a week for dinner, we now go out once a month. Why the change? no we’re not up to our eyeballs in debt. As a matter of fact, we just took advantage of lower interest rates and bought 2 new vehicles, we have a fixed mortgage at 6.25% and still have equity in our home. However between fuel costs and their trickling through the economy (higher grocery bills, more money spent on gas, higher per person restaurant costs) we just cut back. We’ve talked to all of our friends and they are doing the same…so long story short…the recession started when people like my wife and I decided not to pursue things that have gone up due to rising costs…Instead, we quit spending as much.
Are we in a recession, that question really doesn’t matter that much any more. The problem is the US still wants to believe it’s the world’s economy power engine and that time has come and long since gone. The government and a majority of the people are living way past our means and we are borrowing from the rest of the world to do it. There hasn’t been a fiscal policy I’ve seen that says you can go on borrowing forever and if you borrow enough things will get better eventually. We are looking at some serious pain to dig ourselves out but not during an election year god forbid. Push the 2001 pain off until now and then push it off now for another few year hopefully with more cheap money, fed rate cuts and government stimulus package. Then it will be someone else’s problem and hopefully the other party will in office and we can blame it on them. We have sold our economic soul for cheap foreign labor and cheap foreign goods and it’s about to come back and hit us and the rest of the world with a world wide recession in the next few years.
Finally America will need to pay the piper for all of the excesses of the past 20 years. The accountants and such made up new rules to cover so many ill-based, shady and bordering on illegal plots to reap in money that no one really knows what is being reported. Have a “get quick scheme” and our financial community will come up with a way to make it appear legitimate. How far out of touch are the “big shot” financial people? Example is them saying “$100 oil, $3.00 gas is no problem.” They apparently have not lived in the real world over the last several months. Everything is way up – food, fuel, housing and take-home pay way down or stagnant. The avaerage wage-earner can’t afford the average priced house and will never be able to. The upcoming big crash will settle all. Better be ready!
ARE YOU PEOPLE FROM ANOTHER PLANET?- I’ve been unemployed for 5 years! We’ve given up trying to sell or house! Our savings is depleated!My credit cards are in default!My wife makes 17K as a Bartender. I’m a Vietnam Veteran totally ruined by BUSH ADMINISTRATION and the NEW WORLD ORDER !!!
Some of the comments posted above are legitimate, but others appear to be financially struggling people trying to blame greedy corporations instead of themselves for the situation they are in. It is not the companies that are greedy, it the people who are stock holders that want a return on their money. Seeking a return is not greed, it is common sense. Investing in companies promotes hiring, R&D expenditures, etc., that all have a positive effect on the economy.
Someone had a comment on “tax cuts for the rich”, it is more like tax cuts for those who actually pay most of the taxes.
This country has a hangover from years of binge consumer debt spending. I don’t think that being the world’s consumer is a trade strategy likely to rapidly get us out of this slump. Even with the dollar at record lows we still have record annual trade deficits. In my opinion it may take another 30-50% slide in the dollar before the trade deficit swings close to neutral levels, so any talk of exports bringing us out of this seem overly optimistic. We would see a very painful adjustment to our standard of living (import & commodity inflation) if we deflate the dollar to those levels. A service economy cannot carry the burden alone; we need more participation from other sections of the economy. After all the subprime write downs, I think foreign direct investment in the US may be more hesitant than in previous years. Also – infrastructure investment in this country lags far behind most of the rest of the developed world. Overall – not a good situation…
We have had a bubble economy based on more new ways to create money from nothingness and old ways of just printing it. So the bubble will burst and the currency will be devalued.
But further driving the inflationary process is a world-wide resource shortage. This will add real fire to inflation, more than the artificial money manipulation we have seen.
In the Great Depression, there was the ability to re-industrialize when WWII prompted an increase in production. Today, we don’t have the means ( resources ) to snap back.
Fear and greed. We have had the greed, now it is time for the fear.
Most young people and I am believing a lot of MEDIA is losing what a RECESSSION is. If you keep calling it a RECESSION then PEOPLE will believe we are in RECESSION …STOP calling it a RECESSION until you FOR A FACT you know it is a RECESSION …..MEDIA gosh …tell them we are not in recession …then IF it happens THEN tell them we are in a RECESSION …you are jumping the Gun on this.
Geez, so much partisanship here.
Are we in a recession right now? We don’t know, a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP. So, we will not know that we are in a recession NOW until the summer.
People need to save their Air America and Rush Limbaugh quotes and just stick with facts.
————-
good post !!!
The US economy will pause during the 1st & 2nd quarters followed by a broad based expansion thereafter. It’s all about the Fed Funds rate. There is a 9-12 month lag and the sweet spot is about 4.5%. Bernanke went too far on the upside at 5.25% and that has resulted in a slowdown. Right now we are in the expansion mode of the Bernanke yoyo. Any other explanation is political spin.
Yes we will be lucky if it’s not a depression, we need good jobs, for the middle income people, those jobs have and are going over seas. This has got to stop or we won’t have a middle class we will not see our children doing better then ourselves, we will see a privlage class and a under class.
There goes the USA
Bernanke is printing money way to quickly. 125 basis points in one week is rash fiscal stimulus. Remember the S word?–Stagflation? The economy fluctuates through cycles–that’s a known fact. The classical economists believe in not trying to stop these cycles while the Keynesian bloc tries to compress them. I like to take some of the wisdom from both parties with the doctrine of little fluctuations can be compressed but w/ the housing market, the credit situation, and energy, I see this fluctuation too large to be stopped. The inflation brought on by monetary fiscal stimulus in combination with the GDP slowdown leads to the all too familiar shifting of the SRPC. How’s 2009 or 2010 looking?
What recession are we asking about? Who’s economy are we talking about? Does the question refer to the impending lower growth rates (or, gasp, even losses) in the over-inflated stock market where the wealthy are trying to grow their income and assets? Or does the question refer to the continued, on-going, 30-year recession for the rest of US citizens? If the question refers to the 85 to 90% of US citizens who are not in the top 10 to 15% of wealth in the US, the powerbrokers in this country will ensure that the lower classes will continue to suffer recessionary forces. Additionally, we all will be subject to the stagflationary impacts of the current Federal Reserve’s policies and the government’s evolving “economic stimulus” legislation.
I feel we are already in a reccession. IT could turn around if healthcare droppedd to a fair rate, gas came to down to a fair price and jobs were brought back to America. IT does not take a doctorate to figure out if property taxes are doubled, gas is tripled , groceries are up a good 10% and job growth is stagnant we are in trouble. We need to gather as Americains and work to together to get rid of coperate greed
I THINK WE ARE JUST STARTING TO ENTER INTO A RECESSION.I CAN ONLY THINK IT
MUST HAVE BEEN OUR GREEDY CORPERATIONS
AND THE WAY ALL US AMERICAN PEOPLE LIVE
SO FAR BEYOND ARE MEANS. I WOULD NEVER BLAME UNIONS. IF THEY WERE ALL GONE I
WONDER IF WE WOULDN’T BE HERE SOONER.
Fredric has it right. CNN (and the rest of the leftstream media) have been talking down the economy for what, about seven years now? When Clinton was in office, it was nothing but economic happiness and light the whole time.
It’s all so transparently political and dishonest.
Geez, so much partisanship here.
Are we in a recession right now? We don’t know, a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative GDP. So, we will not know that we are in a recession NOW until the summer.
People need to save their Air America and Rush Limbaugh quotes and just stick with facts.
I REALLY GET A KICK OUT OF THE PEOPLE WHO SIT BACK AND SAY THE MEDIA IS CREATING THE RECESSION BY TALKING ABOUT DOOM AND GLOOM. WELL TIME TO WAKE UP AND TAKE A RIDE AROUND YOUR CITY OR TOWN. HMMM SEE ALOT OF MOTORCYCLES,BOATS MOTORHOMES AND OTHER ASSORTED TOYS FOR SALE ON THE FRONT LAWN, WHAT DO YOU THINK THAT TELLS YOU. PEPOLE ARE TRYING TO SELL STUFF BEFORE THE HOUSE GETS FORECLOSED. I’M SURE THERE WAS A GROUP WHO STOOD ON THE DECK OF THE TITANIC AND LOUDLY PROCLAIMED ALL IS WELL BECAUSE THE BOAT WAS UNSINKABLE. YOU MIGHT WANT TO PUT ON A LIFE JACKET…..
A recession is when your neighbor is out of work. A depression is when you and your neighbor are out of work.All the corporate big shots in business and the corrupt people in high goverment don’t worry about until it starts to effect their meal ticket.
I would just like to say that like the economy is like the harry potter series. Black magic and gandor control factors relating to but not related to current presidential candidates. But that is neither here nor there. Trying to predict the quantity of recession is like groping in the dark. Stop driving gas hogs; likewise, spend your rebate check on domestic renewable automobiles. If you have arm mortage. SELL IT NOW!!! Take the hit and lose some money for the good of the economy. Vote Hillary. Who needs an armed forces when the economy is crumbling.
Question: Do you think a recession is inevitable?
Answer: We will know when we stop asking the question. What information is needed/missing to solidify whether the question is worth asking?
maddawg you are the simple minded idiot. Your definition of a recession may be accurate, but it is narrow mindedness like yours that never ceases to amaze me. Look around, companies are closing, prices are increasing, financial markets are dropping-need I go on? Maybe this doesn’t fit the actual definition of recession, but it does show the economy is in trouble. You may be one of the lucky ones not touched or bothered by the economy-thats great for you. I have a professional position, my third in 2 years, due to lay-offs. The layoffs do take a toll on ones finances, therefore, your idiotic comments regarding ones sky falling being his/her own fault is off base. Maybe some are that way but not the majority. Come out of your ivory tower and look at the real world for awhile
If we look at the economic data (jobless report, gdp, foreclosure rates, home value, etc.) then we definitely are not moving in the right direction. When the Fed has to “stimulate” the economy by firing out a 3/4% reduction to the funds rate, then follow it up with another half in less than a week…something’s wrong.
I agree though that if the Dems were back in gov’t, the news would be reporting that everything is great again. The power of the media!
I think we’re already in one, and it’s just manipulation of the numbers that is keeping the ‘R’-word out of the politicians’s mouths.
Remember the 80s?
- fuel & food prices rising
- tight credit
- stagnant incomes
We’re there now. The only thing missing is double-digit inflation, and the Fed is worried about that now.
I saw a study (from UMinn?) back then that said one of the indicators of at-the-limit consumers is when instant cash places have eanough money to advertise, the low-middle part of the economy has gone beyond paycheck-to-paycheck living to use pre-paycheck to pre-paycheck living – they’re flat out of money. I don’t know how it is in other parts of the country, but here in Southern California the check cashing services & ’sell us your annuity’ folks are advertising up a storm. They’re getting that ad money from profits. If people weren’t using thier services, they couldn’t afford it.
It took almost 10 years for the aftereffects of the (SoCal) real estate bust then to finish working themselves out. Time to hunker down…
Technically the data shows that we are currently not in a recession. Things are slowing but not yet negative growth (definition of a recession.) I am in a state that has been hit hard by the economic conditions well before the rest of the country. (Michigan) However I am in industrial sales and I can tell you that in some respects business is booming. My customers have order books full, one is sold out for the next 6 years that makes soalr panels and ship entirely to overseas customers. Companies are getting more overseas business because of the value of the dollar. Companies that have a significant exposure to foreign markets are seeing that we are much more comptetive in their markets than they are in ours. Understand what is happening on a macro scale and forget about what you are reading and hearing from the press. MI has been hit hard by forclosures, but like the gentleman said from Boston earlier, there are a lot more of us that did not borrow more than we could afford and have excellent credit. We are in a position to benefit from the lower interst rates and great deals to be had in both the stock market and durable goods. People need to be responsible for their own actions.
No, a recession is not inevitable. But the more important comment is that as investors, finding no-brainer US (and global) investments is going to get more challenging in the coming months/years. Everyone has a different opinion on where to make that 13%+ return. And the people who are in the know are keeping their lips sealed.
There is no recession in the Pacific Northwest but a correction is a normal part of economic activity. Nothing goes up forever and a pause is healthy to recalibrate where things are. But if you want to believe there is a recession, just read the media since they are so blatently negative about everything.
It will be interesting to see how state and local government handles this as they have been fat and happy for a number of years due to a huge revenue inflow from Real estate transactions, both commercial and residential. It will also be interesting how the liberal media handles themselves on the economy after the elections.
The GOOD news: We screen people for employment nationwide, and business in Jan 2008 is UP over 22% from business in Jan 2007. The BAD news: The number of people with criminal conviction histories is increasing and prior terrorism convictions are getting to be more common.
A lot of people stick to the basic definition that a recession is occuring when the GDP is negative for 2 consecutive quarters. But I have to wonder if this definition is accurate when much of the current market is based on a global economy. The “D” in GDP is domestic. “Made in China” is not. Now that most factory workers for US companies are overseas and companies are constantly finding ways to pay people less, I don’t see how this definition stands. If you disagree, by all means educate me…
if recessions could be avoided, they wouldn’t happen..
If they could be predicted, they wouldn’t happen
If data is everything, then most of the data is backward looking.. future cannot be predicted
Not inevitable, but it seems likely. It depends, I think, on how bad the credit/stock market/housing bubble is and whether or not the Fed allows this multi-bubble to finish deflating before they create another one with negative real interests.
The yield curve has been forecasting a recession for well over a year. The Fed was ignoring this indicator, and opting for being ‘hawkish’ on inflation. This hawkishness is proving to have been too restrictive and will lead to a deflationary scenario; second in severity only to the Great Depression. US corporations have abandoned the US workforce and sewn the seeds of their acquisition by richer third parties. A recession has begun and certain segments of the economy are in depression. The economy will probably get worse before it gets better, but, it will get better in the long-run.
Nobody knows what we are headed for since there has never been a global recession before, but there are undeniable facts that will drive the economy of the next 10-20 years.
1. We are hemoraging cash on a war that is going to leave us severely in debt when it ends. Anybody figured out how (or who) is going to pay for it?
2. The US is begining to bail out financial institutions who made deals that should have been illegal to start with. Anyone remember the Savings and Loans or the 80s. What happened there?
3. The government is trying to stimulate a lagging economy with low interest rates while energy costs soar and infation is on the rise. Anyone remember the 70s?
4. Wall street has again been the focus of all economic attention while they have reinstated margin investment strategies like shorting on the downtick. anyone read about the 1920s?
Read your history and prepare for what will come based on that, not what extremists on either side tell you. For those who think the sky is falling, we are all going to die someday too. For those who think everything is peachy and the current administration is doing fine, please go on thinking that way so I can pick up the Google stock you paid $600 for at $50.
Resessions and booms happen like the tides. Resession is inevitable eventually, without a doubt, and the numbers say it’s coming soon. we’d all best get used to it.
Wall Street can’t accept the fact that the rest of the country has been in a serious recession since end of Summer.
The real problem is what we all are afraid of, but cant say,wheres the money, not in the banks,not in the failed bond insurers,nobody knows where the moneys is,its been sliced and diced so many times nobody knows who has it or who will come up with it due to any given failed investmet
By 2009 we will be calling it a depression and in time it will be known as the Greater Depression.
Things are very distorted. Looks like derivatives will be the killing blow.
Side bets leveraged out by a factor of 100 at least in amounts far greater than actually exists globally is in a manner of speaking a virus, contaminating the financial system, which will soon be overwhelmed.
Stupid question.
Here was the question, “Do you think a recession is inevitable?”
Answer: Of course. recessions are a natural part of the business cycle. But it’s the wrong question. The question should have been, “when will the next recession begin/” or “is the stimulus package being discussed actually worth implementing?” or something else of substance.
I think many of the posts are right. CNN should stop talking about a possible recession until it happens, because that makes the recession. Even though indicators suggest a recession is possible and/or likely, CNN should simply not mention it, and make sure nobody can plan for it.
In the same light, CNN should never report about hurricanes heading toward the US again. Only after the hurricane hits, and takes people by surprise and kills thousands, should CNN be allowed to mention it.
See the similarities
For sure, recession is inevitable. The up-coming recession is the fulfillment of 2001 recession at a much worse level that will fundamentally impact on our daily life. Fed rate cut and government stimilus plan soon will show ineffecitveness due to quickly rising inflation. The recession is inevitable due to the nature of capitalism. Who will suffer the most? the middle class people.
1) Peak global oil production is here or very near (next 10 years). Oil is an exhaustable resource. Economic growth cannot continue forever.
2) GDP is not a good indicator of whether or not a civilization has a healthy economy. There has been a trend in the US of massive wealth aggregation in fewer and fewer hands. The average citizen is much worse off financially in the US than they were in the past.
3) The US made a huge strategic blunder by allowing Corporations to build infrastructure in other countries. Sooner or later, when those other countries (China) decide to make a power move, they will take over our manufacturing infrastructure and use it to produce machines of war.
Take a little advice from your Canadian neighbors… until your government and population stopS living on borrowed money .. things will only get worst from here. As the highest-taxed citizens of G7 nations, we have certainly been paying the piper for the last 20 years or so in probably some of the highest taxes in the world that makes an addicted gambler look like a winner! We’ve accumulated in excess of $400 billion most of which in the last 40 years and your deficit this year alone is projected at over $400 billion. It’s taken us the last 10 years just to gain control over our national debt and have brought down very little of that during that same period and our standard of living is still reeling from it! I hate to say it , but recession or not, you guys are looking at hefty taxes in the very near future. Time to re-take control of your destiny and do the right things……STOP BORROWING!!!!! Even at the cost of the economy taking a hit for a while!!!!
I’ll believe we are in a recession when I see my first kid over 10 without a cell phone in one ear and an iPod in the other … and when HS kids stop driving to school and ride the bus.
Other than $3.00 gas prices and a slower housing market, things seem to be rolling along fine. I was at Costco over the weekend and every other person was walking out with an big LCD tv. The discretionary income still seems to be there for a majority of people. As for myself, I am only spending less to pay off my mortgage faster and not have that burden anymore. Then I can buy even more with that money AND what would have gone toward my mortgage payment.
Let’s face it…this recession is not going to end until Pres. Bush is out of office. He’s a budgetary moron who has squandered away the country’s prosperty with years and years of war, bad budgets and tax breaks for his wealthy cronies! And these wars have done nothing positive for our economy.
By the way, I know I mixed my metaphors by saying some people are ostriches and then telling them to not keep their heads in the clouds! I should have told them to pull their heads out of the sand!!!!
Who cares what you call it?
The bottomline is consumers and companies are spooked. Despite the Fed’s cuts, the credit orgy is ending and companies can’t borrow, homeowners can’t borrow and credit card consumers are next. The president just presented a $3.1 trillion budget that is $400 billion in the red. We are a nation of debts and our creditors are running out of patience. Until we return to being a nation of savers, we’re doomed to suffer. If you are in debt, GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN. The credit situation shows absolutely NO signs of getting better.
Good luck and God bless.
YES….
Go to the grocery store! Look at the high prices. Our monetary policy is rancid, and our 9,000,000,000,000 trillion debt load and rising is sinking the good ship USA. So year a recession is inevitable, so is a depression. We can change course and vote Ron Paul, return the gold standard weighted dollar, curb inflation, and cut military foreign empire building to pay off our debt. But y’all won’t listen to anything that makes sense. However this “stimulus” is a short term answer to a very long and troubling problem.
Those of you that blame the media, Democrats or any combination of the two have not a clue. You don’t even have to get up off the couch and look at the underlying economic data yourselves, listen to the market analysts and stock traders. That’s what is being reported.
The underlying metrics of this economy are bad; earnings stagnation at the bottom, huge wealth gaps at the top. Add enormous consumer and gov’t debt, you get the idea.
As for the media, they are all owned by multinational corporations who have nothing to gain by premoting bad economic news (no sales, no advertising), other then the usual edict that bad news is good for ratings. Look at the editorial boards of the big three, you won’t find any ‘liberals’ there. Think for yourselves for once.
Already recessed. 2 quarters of economic decline? What has happened in the last 2 quarters? Growth has slowed, although not negative but still has slowed. Once the mortgage mess hits enough people (bankers, builders, etc.) and when gas gets above $4.00 for a month then we will see true recession if not depression (at least for me).
The economy will be going great next year because the Dems wiil tell us so -they can’t wait to take over the government. Just wait and see how great they do on our problems when they get in. Politics is such BS -who believes any of this stuff that they tell us. I am worried that Bush put forth a 3 trillion budget – when does this ouragious spending cease? How much can the country aford before the dollar is wortuh nothing and hyper-inflation takes hold? Worried!!!
Very few people know what a recession is. If they cared to look it up, they would realize that two consecutive quarters of reduced GDP (since last quarter was positive) would mean that both the first and second quarter of 2008 would have to be negative. Believe me this will not happen. Also the media does not help. In there efforts to be as negative as possible they could only mention last week the 17,000 drop in employment and conveniently covered the fact that December was corrected from 18,000 gain to 82,000 gain. Nobody mentioned this an appeared baffeled that the unemployment rate went down from 5% to 4.9%. I don’t know why we get only half truths, no communication of good news. And they wonder why the media stocks and subscriptions are going down. Could it be that most of us are wising up to their hidden agenda.
Intervene uncessarily in another country’s affairs, wage a war, fund the military expense in trillions and wonder why the prices and cost of living is so high!!!
I am 30 right now and I really wonder if I can get social welfare fund after 30 years. We will be bankrupt by then..
Invest all that money in our country, people idiots…
The media needs to stop trying to put us into a recession and report on the positive. Unfortunately there are enough dumb poeple in this country who belive everything the media reports and think we are doomed because of it. The poeple of this great country should be the ones to control our fate. My advice is to keep spending what you can afford and everything else will take care of itself.
9 out of 10 people in my building are H1B’s from India, with as much work as possible being sent to India.
Corporations as a whole are sending all manufacturing and now even R&D offshore. With it goes the jobs and eventually the profits.
How many companies can lay off or just not hire an American worker and still expect Americans to be able to buy their products, make mortgage and credit card payments, and pay ludicrous prices for health care?
Corporate America brought on this recession (it’s already here ande has been for a long time) and only htey can fix it. It’s time they thought about the survival of their country more than unrealistic goals for profit and growth.
I work 2 jobs (retail and automotive) and a single mom w/two kids in college but I’m surviving. Auto sales are down and retail sales (are slow). In retail… customers ask immediately where the sale racks are…so that is telling me people are cutting back. I took on the 2nd job just in case I was layed off my day job. Cover your bases…there are plenty of jobs are out there. I am trying to pay off bills and not making any large purchases.
If you are in the top quintile, there is no recession and there won’t be. If US stocks are down, you can just wait it out or move your money elsewhere. If you are more ordinary, we have been in recession for a while and will continue to be in in recession for a long time to come. Your income will not keep up with inflation, rising energy costs and rising health insurance costs. You will continue to worry about losing your job and your benefits and probably won’t save enough to retire comfortably.
Your perspective depends on where you live and what socio-economic class you belong to. Here in our rural area of GA, housing is drastically reduced. Therefore, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, graders, and other associated fields are devoid of work. This has effected our community drastically since much of it relies on housing related work.
This also has affected retail stores since there is less discretionary income to spend on clothes, food, etc.
Corporate America would not feel the effects as dramatically as the “little guy” out on the streets trying to make a living.
Maddawg, you live in DC where the effects aren’t as notable as here in rural America. Where there is a high level of government, there is a lot of money available. All economists know that the most stable positions of all are in any associated with government – whether that be a government job itself or a business that depends on government employees.
So calling people names doesn’t make the problem any less for those of us who are living in the depths of economical hardship.
Our jobs have dried up, our cost of living has gone up, jobs are not available, food and gas have skyrocketed.
Some of you are ostriches who hide their head in the sand (of your own environment). Get out, talk to people in smaller towns, see what is happening on the ground. Don’t keep your heads in the clouds.
Definitely. As an independent business consultant, I am seeing corporations pulling back fast on capital spending in advance of declining profits. This looks a lot like 1st quarter 1992 and 2001 with no prospects on the horizon and clients going 90 days or more before paying for my services.
Visit a foreign country.
People would be willing to buy your dollars?. That was years ago.
Now , everybody wants euros. I offer to sell my dollars , no attention at all.
Even those foreign third world countries are buying products from China and India. I see only Asian made cars….and goods….
What happened to our great America the beautiful?
Where are our great corporations? I went to Southamerica ( you would say our closest neighbors) . Removed are the sign of Ford, Caterpillar, ATT,
GM,……………….even Bank signs
Seeing as how I think we are already in recession, I guess you could say that I think it’s pretty darn inevitable. As far as I’m concerned, the real question is whether depression is inevitable.
What no one realizes is the same as what no one realized when the great depression hit in 1929. It’s sneaking up from behind this time. All the elements are there. The great depression was caused by people buying stock on margin (credit card debt and mortgage loans they can’t repay is the factor today) and the inevitable run on the banks. Now we have the FDIC, however; what people don’t realize is they are as dumb as they were back then. The dollar is shrinking (no money to back it), the GDP is phony because it counts “assembly” of goods not manufactured here (just exported), unemployment maybe low but people are working for less so they can’t pay their bills on less money, and the deficit is going throught the roof while inflation (prices of things) continue to rise. “Stagflation”. Banks are going out of business. We’re headed for another “depression” and to be honest, this country needs one. Maybe then people will stop robbing Peter to pay Paul and stop thinking that it is okay to keep borrowing money from other countries.
You idiots are not reading the question right. It asks if a recession is inevitable, not if we are in a recession.
Inevitable? We are already in a recession. It’s only that the government continually attempts to hide the fact and reports everything in arrears. It’s easy to see a recession. Look around. I’ve seen “going out of business” signs popping up and increasing weekly. Luxury items are going up for sale, as are vacation homes. Nearly every retailer is having huge sales, because their stores are mostly empty. Restaurants are serving fewer and fewer patrons each week. I haven’t receieved an offer for a credit card in two month, when I used to receive three each week. People are defaulting on consumer debts and HELOCs left and right. There hasn’t been a single real estate closing in my area in months now. I’ve lived through multiple recessions and I know that we are well into them long before the government admits the fact.
the R has just began ,it is not over, it will get much worse than the 1929 deppression. Simply because of all the lies lead by the banks and mortage companies! ! Homes are not worth the paper they are backing . A 700k mortage may be worth 250K if you try and sell the property= a 500k loss on a lot of CA. property. ? wheres the money gone?
Ha,ha,ha, it’s so funny when people blame the news media for the current state of the economy. If anything, they are guilty of being enablers of all the bad lending and over-borrowing.
It doesn’t take enormous intellect to understand that lending money to people and corporations who have no way of paying it back is a bad idea, and yet that is exactly what has occurred over the last five years. The massive unwinding of this bad debt can only end badly and will bring the whole economy down with it. It is inevitable, and the current Fed and government actions are only forestalling the inevitable.
Calling people who see that our economy is a house of cards idiots is flat-earth thinking. You can pretend all you want that the economy is not going into a recession (depression), but that will not make it fact.
Looks like all the realtors, brokers, financial advisers, and other superfluous middle men in the US better learn a real skill or risk starving.
Seems the writer has not followed the news lately. Revenues have been affected due to the writer’s strike and not only due to the economic slowdown.
While technically we may not be in a recession ( two consecutive quarters of declining GDP) as others here keep pointing out, something is wrong. We are in the middle of a “slow down”. We noticed a slow down in our business months ago. If CNN, Fox, and others are merely saying we’re in a recession to make us think we are, why has the Fed reacted the way it has? Seems to me the Fed is either caving in to Wall Street, or they must be worried about something. Makes you wonder…
Thing are definitely getting tight but we are not in a recession.
The recession talk is being driven by the media and it is a result of election year politics. Their are many companies that are having good years and you do not see their names mentioned, instead, the media is dwelling on the negatives.
The housing market has been significant cannon fodder for the media and yet it is less than 2% of GDP. Why not focus on the buying opportunity for those of us who bought mortgages we can afford and can now pick up bargains during the foreclosure process for those who spent beyond their means? The housing foreclosure issue is the result of the misuse of risky subprime mortgage financial mechanisms that artificially increased the rate of realestate investment growth…..right now the model of capitalism is simply correcting itself.
Again, it is the media making a big to do about nothing. Where is the media’s articles on the shrinking trade deficit (14% of GDP) which is helping to offset the negative side of things.
Things will miraculously get better once Bush leaves office.
A recession is a lot like a box of chocolates…One never know what one is going to get. Nevertheless and Gumpian-wisdom aside… We can all see “The Box of Chocolates” before us. I see the recession becasue…we have no reliable equity, no liquidity, we are overloaded with debt and a whole lot of “head-in-sand” denial and utter lack of leadership at every level of Government
We are not there yet but almost certainly will be. We can’t blame the government or the administration because that is us. We are our own problem. We bought too much and spent too much for what we bought. The signs have been there for several years, but in our own self indulgence we chose to ignore them. We were told that we were spending too much for housing when our earnings were compared to what our housing costs should have been as a percentage. We claim not to be able to afford health care but look at what we spend on gambling; sports and entertainment venues; consumer electronics; alcohol, tobacco products, and illegal drugs; pets and pet accessories. If the finger we try to point at the cause bends arthritically towards ourselves the message should be clear.
It’s obvious we’re not in a recession statically. At the same time it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out inflation is getting the better of the American people. Although you can look at any governmental chart and it won’t indicate what I’m speaking of because of what’s measured.
The American people have been struggling since the beginning of 2007. The housing bubble just pushed us closer to reality, where charts are concerned.
Even with the rate cuts the market is still struggling. This week (Feb 4 -> Feb8) will be very interesting based on those who report their earnings.
If this is not a recession, it will do until a real one comes along.
Jobs are down, gas is up and going higher, food is up, rents are up, the price of cars is up, people are losing their homes, etc. etc. ad nauseum.
Thanks to the media for keeping the nation in a state of anxiety and confusion with its gloom-and-doom news.
Not for nothing did the big investment houses pull out for safer ground since October.
It’ll get worse before it gets better. Can we move the election up 10 months?
The more the news media focus on this the more it will BECOME reality. The medium CREATES the message.
This is a MUCH MUCH BIGGER CATASTROPHEE!! Let me just lay down the factors.
1. US productivity is all time low in terms of research,technology. INDIA and China are on top. Where’s the next generation of products comin’ from?
2. US labor unions are screwing things up and manufacturing is down hill big time.
3. Banks and financial institutions CANNOT keep going the common man with his low productivity. They’re going under
4. Feds will keep working till the treasury is empty, trying to bail economy out.
5. No hope as things stand. 20 or even 10 years from now only the productive and qualified folks CAN live in the US. The guy working at Walmart is out. He’s gonna move …iceland maybe? Indians and Chinese are gonna drive the economy within and withou!!
As any professional investor will tell you, the best time to buy is when the sentiment is highly negative. That makes this the best time to invest in the last five years.
WE’VE BEEN A RECESSION SINCE AT LEAST OCTOBER!!!! It’s bad, it’s ugly, it’s happening right now. I’ve been in retailing for 37 years, weathered 4 recessions, and it never ceases to amaze me that six-figure bureaucrats at both the government and Wall-Street level take several months to recognize the ugly reality of a recession. And it’s affecting everyone in retail, from auto dealerships, restaurants, auto repair stores, the list is endless. The only good news? We’re at the bottom now, and should start climbing out by March/April.
NO…
the statistics to prove whether or not a recession is in progress have not been generated…and since most people are simple minded idiots, yes this means you too, relying on them to guess if we are or not is simply unreliable.
what is a recession? 2 or more sucessive quarters of declining GDP. i challenge any of you to provide this proof today!
not gas prices, not mortgage problems, not poor company performance in itself…none of these are a recession.
you ’sky is falling’ R-tards have to always complain without any knowledge of what your complaining about so stfu please!
there is no chance of a dem running the whitehouse so that won’t help you either….getting your head out of your b@#$s will!!
by the way, if YOUR sky is falling, it is very, very likely due to your own stupidity, ignorance and plain old simple minded lack of knowledge!!!
Maybe this is not very pretty or exciting, but resession is a prt of a “normal” economical cicle. I think that a government intervention makes things worth.
I’ll believe we are in a recession when I can get a parking spot right next to the front door at Target, and all of the neighborhood Mercedes and Hummers are parked over at WalMart.
If “a certain other cable news network” is #1 in the ratings, then how did the viewers of the less watched media manage to cause a recession?
There isn’t much hope for this country if people ignore the evidence around them and just believe a single news source that tells them what they want to hear.
As posts here show, the US is filled with people who have absolutely no idea what’s going on. Sleep on at your own risk, people.
For the record, your government really appreciates your lack of awareness. In fact, they count on it. Zzzzzzzz.
I agree with one writer, Stop telling us how bad the country is and tell the good things. When the news media preaches on how bad things are….Then people begin believing it and even those with lots of money stop buying, which then eventually takes a hit on all businesses. Manufacturers and retailers alike. So, For Heavens Sake, Fox, CNN and the rest of you, Stop Blasting how bad our lives our! The worst and poorest US citizens live much better than 60% of the world.
Remember that!
Our system is broken. The middle class is atrophied. The past 7 years of “prosperity” was built on the fake money of real estate speculation. Now we have to come face the reality of yet another bubble. It all gets down to what the Bible says about the LOVE of money being the root of all evil. People will game the system any way they can and we all pay for it.
Yes, we’re in a recession made possible by many enablers. Thankfully, the King of Deficit’s term is almost up.
Though Walt Disney relies heavily on consumer spending, its earnings may not reflect if the US is in recession. I was in Disney, Orlando last month and I was surprised to find that more than half of the visitors are from South America. In fact, I saw about two hundred Brazilians sitting around me while watching Stunt Show. May be their earnings reflect how the world economy is doing.
My wife and I have been good over the last several years at living within our means. I say let the economy cave. We’ll refinance our home and buy a hybrid or 4-banger which takes care of the two largest expenses in our budget.
For more than half of the people of the United States, we have been in recession for some time.
Raises have not kept up with inflation because of “global competition”.
When laid off, the next job is at lower pay.
Enough of the increased cost of health insurance has been passed on to employees, so that take home pay is less.
This is what happened in the ’20s; learn from history.
America has been in recession since the middle of 2007.
1. Look at the Unemployed. Most need extended benfits that are or allready have run out.
2.The unemployment rate is under-estimated. Look at individual State Rates and you will see that 4.9% avg is not correct. Not to mention ppl are working multiple parttime jobs just to stay even. And their losing at that.
3.Remember when someone is looking at you from the TV and saying all is OK, They have a Job. People believe redundancy.
4.And NEVER forget definitions:
If your Neighbor is out of work, that’s a Rececession. If You are out of work, That’s a Depression.
People, please read an Economics 101 book. We are not in a recession now and probably won’t be. Recession is 2 straight QUARTERS of economic decline – we haven’t had even 1 quarter of decline. Despite your buy in to the liberal media’s BS of “tax cuts for the rich only” which are factually incorrect (the top 10% of earners pay MORE in taxes now than under Clinton) and all the other misnomers, the reality is that the economy might be slowing but we are still at record low unemployment (lower than 8 years of Clinton) and wages and household income are all up across the board.
Think for yourselves people!
Would be a big help if you and your cronies would quit trying to convince people everything is so bad. Surveys show that most people are OK, but are convinced that everyone else must be is sad shape because that’s all they hear and see. Why not report facts instead of your pessimistic opinions? Tell the whole story, don’t have the headline say “orders are down” then print in the story that they increased, but are down from an all time high…95% of the people have no mortgage problems, but all you report is the people who should never have gotten a loan in the first place (but who the gov’t forced banks to loan to anyway).
If you work for gov’t, NO. In spite of the bursting of the housing bubble, taxable assessed values of real estate can’t be reduced by gov’t. because then the 7% annual raises in all their budgets couldn’t continue. In a true recession, a gov’t employee that gets a gov’t paid car would get a Ford Escort or equiv. I think they are still handing out Explorers so no, there is no recession.
CNN is certainly trying their best to sell ddom and gloom in this election year. Once a Dem is elected, magically the economy will rebound. So predictable and dishonest.
YES!!! the housing bail out , gas prices , poor quarter reports and the race for the white house, ( :
Have you ever read the story about the hotdog vendor?
Geez, if you (the media) say we are in a recession, we must be in a recession.
Should we pack up our cart because of it?
Let’s see tax cuts for the rich only, increases for everyone else new fees for government services that use to be free. Government spending trillions on war in Iraq and no money for health care for poor children. Inflation 3 times what government reports it as.
Yes we are in a recession and have been for a long time. For the Feds to cut the interest rate 1.25 points within the past 3 weeks the economy must be totally in recession.
Yes, because the only bright spot in the economy was caused by low interest rates causing a building boom and letting people use their equity as a piggybank. That’s over now and all we have left is depleted savings, government and personal debt, inflation, and the continuing effects of globalization on employment and salaries.
Inevitable? Go to the grocery store, fill your gas tank, then go look for a job.
It’s here. Get your passports ready, it’s going to be ugly.
It will if you keep talking about it!!!!I’m sure once the Dems get control of everything CNN will be saying the economy is great!!
If enough people think they are in a recession, then they must be.
So as it goes, since we are all talking about it, we must be there already.
And if that is the case, that everyone is talking and thinking recession, then we are probably a good way through the recession now since it takes a while to recognize it.
And that is good news because that means a upturn may be near (several months).
-
Rich nations want others to cut greenhouse gases. Who pollutes the most? More -
Many businesses were laid to rest in '09. 8 familiar names now gone. More -
The Becerras spoiled themselves with a puppy. Here's what 6 other readers are indulging on. More -
Consumers looking to buy electronics for holiday gifts won't have to break the bank this season. More
I think my first clue that we were in a recession is when I started seeing the commercials on tv with the pig
You know, the commercial that says
“Hey everybody – be sure and feed the pig” (piggybank)
In other words, get ready