Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:
The US economy grew in the first quarter of 2016, but only a tiny bit, 0.5%. That’s technically enough to keep it from being called a “recession.”
First, do you believe that number? Economic estimates are routinely announced with pronounced spin showing how well the administration’s policies are working, then quietly revised downward a few months later. There’s not much room to revise this number downward.
Second, look at the formula for calculating GDP:
Gross Domestic Product = Consumption + Investment + Government Spending + (Exports – Imports)
If the federal government wants the GDP number to look good, it can manipulate the formula by increasing government spending to offset decreases in Consumption, Investment and Net Exports. But federal government spending slowed down in the first quarter. And the GDP number is falling as a result. The implications are important.
It means there never was any growth in the Consumer or Investment side of the economy, that’s all been propped up by federal government spending. In other words, we’ve been experiencing negative economic growth for months, maybe years, but it’s been masked by federal government spending. I’m looking at you, Barack Obama, and your $20 Trillion national debt.
The take-away is simple: don’t worry about Great Depression 2.0 coming; it’s already here. Worry about what happens when the ordinary public figures it out.
Joe Doakes
Like we need any more good news this week…
Just change how you compute the average. Duh.
“Worry about what happens when the ordinary public figures it out.”
Are you addressing that to gays, or to Mexicans?
I ran several errands late afternoon/early evening yesterday. The number of homeless people congregating over a wide area neat the shelter in downtown St Paul is amazing.
Then around Cedar, Franklin, Hiawatha and that area of Minneapolis..almost every corner had someone standing at the intersection panhandling. And these people looked much more down-on-their luck than your usual panhandler.
So, city alderman, mayor, state house rep, state Senator, US House rep, both US Senators, President. Every person who represents these people in the government are Democrats. It looks like 1934 our there.
JD, facts are for little people, because… feelings!
There is evidence that our national finances are more of a smoking wreck than anyone knows. Very interesting article:
“The U.S. national debt comes out to about $16 trillion today. That’s something. But it’s nothing compared to the extra $87 trillion in unfunded liabilities to Social Security, Medicare, and federal pensions. Here’s how that works. If you add up all of the U.S. government’s promises to pay retirement and health care benefits for the next 75 years and subtract the projected tax revenue dedicated to those programs over the next 75 years, there is a gap. A $87 trillion gap — in addition to a $16 billion hole.”
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/11/is-our-debt-burden-really-100-trillion/265644/
My plan is to build a still and make whiskey to trade for food and ammo.
Actually there is a simple solution to this debt and unfunded liability problem. We can just raise taxes. The math is clear. We simply create a 100% tax bracket for EVERYBODY, no deductions or exclusions, and temporary for the next eight years. Problem solved! Some will quibble that we don’t have money to buy food, but Congress never cared about that when they were running up this monstrous debt.
Or you could have Trump refinance the debt! Although you might want to check back next week to see his updated positions. Whatever it is, it’ll be “terrific”!
Emery, the debt will be refinanced, the only question is how. Best odds are that we’ll fund it by inflating it away since that’s a hidden tax that politicians can get reelected on by blaming someone else.
And don’t tell me that they can’t do that since SS and company are indexed for inflation. All they have to do is change what they measure as “inflation” and poof! Problem gone. Sort of like how they have redefined “investment” to include R&D by companies (until the Obama administration that wasn’t counted as real investment, or we’d have been in a recession since the Obama Recession started), and how they’ve defined “unemployment” (which would be at Great Depression levels to day if we measured it the same way as they did back then).
Since the left wants to tax the foreign income of US companies, why not tax the foreign income of foreign companies. BRILLIENT! Volkswagon sales car in Finland, we’ll tax them.
The numbers reported by the press reflecting the Glory of Obama have never been given proper scrutiny. Their Cuisinart of Truth is permanently set to puree.
Never mind US economy. Chinese is in a freefall. Their numbers came out yesterday and March was called a “Dead Panda Bounce”. They are crashing hard. Not good news, as war – with anyone, – is about the only way for the commies to keep the unwashed from rioting.