Roger,
You probably missed in the comments of that Classical Values post by Simon, that he improperly compared the US first quarter growth rate of 1.9% per annum to the German first quarter growth rate of 1.4% per quarter. Apples to apples, US growth rate of 1.9% per annum in the first quarter compares to a German growth rate of 5.6% per annum in the first quarter, which is actually “blazing” for a first world economy.