Good Morning America!
Posted by Terry Nelson on Apr 1st, 2008
Is it true?
Not according to the Bush Administration. The President and his men simply refer to it as an economic downturn, a market correction.
Recession? No, no, no.
That said - it appears the world sees it differently than we do.
“We knew things were bad on Wall Street, but on Main Street it may be worse. Startling official statistics show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States, a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food stamps just to feed themselves and their families.” - The Independent
April 1st, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Do you know how to tell the difference between a recession and a depression? A recession is when other people are getting laid off. A depression is when one’s self has been laid off!
April 2nd, 2008 at 6:59 am
Terry,
I’m by no means a Bush supporter (I’m one of those who doesn’t think he’s conservative enough; in most other eras he would have been a moderate Democrat) and it often pains me when I have to defend him, but I think this talk of the economy being in a depression is absurd. We don’t even know for a fact that we’re in a recession, and John Lott (whom I admire greatly) makes a compelling arguement that talk of a recession is in large part a media myth. Not only that, the picture that the Independent is using to illustrate their point is actually from 2005.
I agree that the economy is no great shakes right now and that Bush deserves his share of the blame for leading the Republican party astray from traditional conservative economics, but I really don’t know what good comes from the kind of fear-mongering that’s pushed by publications such as the Independent. Frankly, I think that kind of talk leads to self-fulfilling prophesy.
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:46 am
Mitchell, thanks, I know several people who say the same as you. There are current studies claiming this type of fear mongering does lead to self-fulfilling prophesy. And I know the British press is unreliable.
Nevertheless, even though I’m not a politician or an economist, I think we are in big trouble. Big trouble.
April 2nd, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Terry, I think you’re right that we are in some trouble now. I don’t know that I’d go so far as to say we’re in big trouble, though.
If you compare this situation to the recessions of the 70s and 80s, we are in much better shape now: inflation isn’t at double-digits, nor are interest rates. Even though we hear about mortgage problems, around 90% of homeowners still pay their mortgages on time. The stock market is shaky for short-term investors, but not for those in it for the long haul. So by temperment, I’m much more like Neil Cavuto than Glenn Beck.
However, if you look at government trends - there, I think you’re on to something. Unless we get out of this orgy of spending, new government programs, earmarks, etc., there’s no doubt that we could spend ourselves right into bankruptcy. That’s going to take an effort of will on the part of the politicans and the voters that keep putting them into office though, and I don’t know that we collectively have that will.
It’s also going to take an attitude adjustment on our society. The idea that bigger is better, that we can have it all, that materialism reigns supreme - that’s really the kind of thinking that got so many people into financial trouble in the first place.
So the final question remains: what role does the government have in trying to cure our economic problems? To answer that, I kind of like David Mamet’s recent observations (in his piece on why he is no longer a brain-dead liberal).
He said, “But if the government is not to intervene, how will we, mere human beings, work it all out?
“I wondered and read, and it occurred to me that I knew the answer, and here it is: We just seem to. How do I know? From experience. I referred to my own—take away the director from the staged play and what do you get? Usually a diminution of strife, a shorter rehearsal period, and a better production.
{…}
“What about the role of government? Well, in the abstract, coming from my time and background, I thought it was a rather good thing, but tallying up the ledger in those things which affect me and in those things I observe, I am hard-pressed to see an instance where the intervention of the government led to much beyond sorrow.”
For me, that speaks pretty well to it.
April 2nd, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Oh no, Terry, it’s NOT a recession. Why we’re just spiffy economy wise. If you want to find an American recession, you’ll find it alongside the weapons of mass destruction Saddam was amassing. In other words, it doesn’t exist, right?
I need to pray for the soul of Bush and Cheney. And you are absolutely right about former Secretary of Defense Richard Rumsfeld. I’m pretty sure he would burst into violent convulsions at the sight of a crucifix