It’s not that economic growth has slowed, or the recovery is weakening. The economy actually shrunk.
The U.S. economy posted a stunning drop of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, defying expectations for slow growth and possibly providing incentive for more Federal Reserve stimulus.
The economy shrank from October through December for the first time since the recession ended, hurt by the biggest cut in defense spending in 40 years, fewer exports and sluggish growth in company stockpiles.
“…hurt by the biggest cut in defense spending in 40 years…” The sequestration cuts haven’t even happened yet. The payroll tax hike hadn’t taken effect yet.
This could get ugly.
Unless you’re Barack Obama, who stands ready to get even more Americans onto welfare.
What nobody realizes is that the only thing propping up these GDP numbers is the $1 trillion annual increase in government spending (all borrowed).
The shell game GDP statistic treats government spending just like any other.
A realistic view of GDP (i.e., without the massive government borrowing which gets spent into the pockets of democrat allies) would be about 10% LOWER than in the summer of 2008.
It wouldn’t matter if government built computers or grew food, but government is all overhead (except for the 50% that is pure waste and corruption).
Big deal. They kept burying the bad numbers until after “O” got re-elected. You don’t believe anyone in the MSM or the Administration really gives a damn about the country, do you?
SHRANK, goddammit. “Shrunk” requires “have” or “has.” And yes, the Disney movies are cute but ungrammatical.
That aside, weo and marco73 speak (write?) the truth, as do you.
Growth, recovery, etc. were all a product of TARPI, TARPII, QEI, QEII, TWIST, QEIII and a continuing “opening of Federal Reserves faucets.” Net result…ZILCH!! Greed, Power and Corruption prevailed. Only Ludwig Von Mises’ “economic activity is governed by what any one individual will pay another for any goods or services!!!!” Period (or words to that effect).Will provide for continued, sustained and healthy economic expansion. Keynes, once again, has been debunked!!!
Unfortunately, the whole sordid mess is so complex… so covered over by self-serving government propaganda…banking industry lies… and media red-herrings… it’s no wonder most people have no clue about what’s really happening and what’s in America’s future.
Thankfully, but for the actions of a few courageous individuals, like Ron Paul and the Tea Party movement, all that may change….hopefully. And Bernanke and crony-capitalism will be “locked-up” for good.Along with Bernie Madoff!!!!
More and more people are waking up to the systematic looting and legalized larceny that have been going on right under our noses (Rick Santelli was first to sound the alarm).
They realized that Wall Street bankers(AIG, Goldman Sachs, et al), with the help of U.S. government officials(Bush first, then Obama, Holder et al), have been helping themselves to hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer funds… marking a government spending spree unequalled in American history.
One immediate trigger for 2008′s credit wipeout was the massive default of so-called “subprime mortgages” that can be directly linked to government policies in the 1980s and ’90s.( Actually,started in Chicago’s 13th District “with redlining” under then Senator-elect Obama)
Although politicians, like Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, sought to wash their hands of responsibility for what happened under their watch, many analysts insist that it was precisely the policies of people like Frank that: 1) encouraged the unprecedented growth in subprime mortgages and 2)leading to the subsequent wipeout.
In 1982, Congress passed the Alternative Mortgage Transactions Parity Act (AMTPA), allowing housing creditors to write exotic new mortgages—such as adjustable-rate, option adjustable-rate, balloon-payment, interest-only and low-doc mortgages (later called NINJA loans)—that gave low-income buyers the ability to purchase homes they could not normally afford (Chicago’s black community was first to be wiped out…later, spreading like wildfire to other States across America).
Then, in the 1990s under Bill Clinton, the government began giving banks and other home creditors enormous financial incentives to offer loans to low-income people. (Resulting in Arizona’s, Nevada’s and Florida’s real estate collapse)
In 1995, the federally-chartered mortgage giants like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac began receiving government tax incentives for purchasing mortgage backed securities which included loans to low income borrowers. (Their board members were ALL graced with excessive bonuses and perks).
The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) actually set a goal for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that at least 42 percent of the mortgages they purchased be issued to borrowers whose household income was below the median in their area.( only a maximum of 3% down was required. In some cases, no down at all).
Not surprisingly, from 2002 to 2006, (Bush’s administration) the U.S. subprime market grew 292 percent over previous years. In fact, the entire financial services (credit) industry took off like a rocket in these years. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission reported in January 2011 that “from 1978 to 2007, the amount of debt held by the financial sector soared from $3 trillion to $36 trillion, more than doubling as a share of gross domestic product.”
In the end, the incompetent attempts at social engineering by liberals in Congress —combined with the greed of Wall Street investment banks, attempting to turn low-grade debts into supposedly Grade AAA investments—led to the creation of a financial house of cards that was doomed to collapse at the first hiccup in the economy. This is the true state of affairs in the USA today…no politician, MSM, RNC/GOP pundit will tell you these facts. Add to this 95 million legal Americans currently on some form of government assistance program and USA is on life support. There’s no telling how many “illegal aliens” are also on government assistance programs (SSA and SSI, WICS, AID TO DEPENDENT CHILDREN, SEC 8,Income Tax rebates for dependent claims, et al). Pray. Amen.