Quote:
Originally posted by Colin
I'm interested in what you have to say and why you think that.
Why do you consider the US economy to be "in the toilet"? We are not in a recession. The real US GDP expanded 3% last year. The US Composite Index of leading economic indicators has been increasing. In December, 8 of the 10 indicators were up. What economic policy of Bush's are you even criticizing?
Could we be expanding faster than 3%? Yes, but Allen Greenspan has said on a number of occasions that his monetary policy is designed to ease the transition from the stock market bubble to historically normal price levels relative to earnings. He has also recently pointed out that the US economy has been amazingly resilient in posting a 3% gain last year despite a drop in stock prices, a decline in capital expenditures, fallout from 9/11, corporate scandals such as Enron, and worldwide political factors.
|
This is from CBS news, they mention we are in a recession and that the GDP growth is actually weaker than normal, but I'm sure they are wrong and you are right. Why don't you try to get your info from someone other than Rush Limbaugh.
(CBS)*The American economy barely budged at the end of 2002, growing at an annual rate of just 0.7 percent in the final three months of the year, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
The performance ? weaker than the 0.9 percent increase analysts were predicting ? gave the fourth quarter the distinction of being the worst quarter for gross domestic product in 2002.
It also marked the weakest showing since the economy actually shrank at a 0.3 percent rate in the third quarter of 2001 as the country was mired in its first recession in a decade.
There were warning signs that the one saving grace of the economy during the slowdown ? individual consumer spending ? might be weakening. The fall-off in growth was partly due to lower household purchases, which grew at their slowest rate in almost a decade.
In another report, the Labor Department said new claims for unemployment benefits increased last week for the second week in a row.
The meager rise in gross domestic product in the fourth quarter of 2002 came after the economy grew at a respectable 4 percent rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department reported Thursday.
GDP measures the total value of goods and services produced within the United States and is considered the broadest barometer of the economy's health.
Although the economy ended 2002 on a sour note, for all of 2002 the economy grew by a decent 2.4 percent. While that marked a big improvement over the tiny 0.3 percent rise registered in 2001, it was still considered weaker-than-normal growth for the U.S. economy.
The economy, knocked down by a recession that began in March 2001, has been struggling to get back on sure footing. Economic growth has been uneven, with a quarter of strength, followed by a quarter of weakness.
