Is It a Recession? That's the Wrong Question

Most people haven't the slightest idea how the government measures "economic growth" nor would they have much reason to believe the numbers if they did know. What, oh what, things do they use to tally the total of all goods and services produced in a quarter? Not "negative two quarters", so "not a recession?" Most of us might as well be hearing Greek.

We have millions of computers and little accounting that is useful or meaningful to citizens. What we do have is mostly used for spin.

What people know is they are in trouble on home values, in trouble on energy, (some are) in trouble on food, and more than who even know it are about to fall out of the frying pan into the big big fire on health care. The federal government is dead broke and going in a deeper hole every year. And the upper 10% were never so rich as today. That's what we know. Who has the word that describes that phenomenon? "Recession" ain't it.

Daniel David of NM 2:19PM August 01, 2008