Naive experts shocked! US economy posts decline of 0.1% for Q4

[Jeebus]

The U.S. economy posted a decline of 0.1% at an annual rate last quarter, shocking experts although there was an expectation that growth would be lower than the 3.1% gain in the third quarter, the government said Wednesday.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...p=breakingnews

My guess is there will be many "revisions" of economic 'growth" that will now show up "post election."



Par for the course.

[RIKMAN]

And the sickophants (sic) here will say...

"What's it matter...we won!"

Dead ambassadors, dead economy, free stuff from the government...I got mine...
What's it matter? Indeed!

[soulflower]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...p=breakingnews

My guess is there will be many "revisions" of economic 'growth" that will now show up "post election."



Par for the course.

It's not as bad as it looks:

“The number isn’t as bad as it looks,” said Paul Edelstein, director of financial economics at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, whose team projected a 0.3 percent gain, the lowest in the Bloomberg survey. “This really was a story about a payback in national defense spending. Consumer spending growth picked up, fixed investment was fairly strong.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...g-plunges.html

[flyboy56]

"A possible cautionary signal: Consumer confidence plunged in January for the third straight month, erasing all of 2012's gains, the Conference Board reported Tuesday."

Consumer confidence has dropped which usually means less spending on luxury items. Consumer spending makes up a large percentage of the GDP.

[Spot72]

It's not as bad as it looks:

“The number isn’t as bad as it looks,” said Paul Edelstein, director of financial economics at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, whose team projected a 0.3 percent gain, the lowest in the Bloomberg survey. “This really was a story about a payback in national defense spending. Consumer spending growth picked up, fixed investment was fairly strong.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...g-plunges.html

A war economy based on borrowing is unsustainable. The consumer economy grew at a respectable rate. This transition will and should continue. All of the private sectors of the economy are starting to takeoff, including housing. Only government and military spending took a big hit in Q4, mainly due to cuts that this administration has already made and the sequester, which was due to hit this month.

Why should that be a surprise to anyone? House Republicans want to shrink the size of government. Did it ever occur to any of them that DoD was part of our government?

[michiganjoe]

Driven largely by a 22% reduction in defense spending. This should put an end to the conservative foolishness that the key to economic growth is austerity, but it won't.

[SemiAuto]

It's not as bad as it looks:

“The number isn’t as bad as it looks,” said Paul Edelstein, director of financial economics at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, whose team projected a 0.3 percent gain, the lowest in the Bloomberg survey. “This really was a story about a payback in national defense spending. Consumer spending growth picked up, fixed investment was fairly strong.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...g-plunges.html

Look at it this way.

[Calamari]

So right in the first sentence, it says this is because of government spending cuts.

Not exactly a win for righties here, though I guess you are now taking anything that hurts America to be a win for yourselves.

[Calamari]

Driven largely by a 22% reduction in defense spending. This should put an end to the conservative foolishness that the key to economic growth is austerity, but it won't.

Exactly. Self-awareness isn't their strong suit.

[flyboy56]

If I threw trillions of dollars at a problem I would expect to see huge results after 4 years. Damn economy cheerleaders.

[bmorepunk]

Economists can't forecast GDP very well at all. They're generally (almost as a whole) off by so much that you could write a program to generate a "random" growth number and not be any worse off. The worst forecast GDP numbers come out of the White House (no matter which Administration is in there).

[BiggSeth]

Driven largely by a 22% reduction in defense spending. This should put an end to the conservative foolishness that the key to economic growth is austerity, but it won't.

LIE!

The gubment spent MORE in FY12Q4 than the previous 2 quarters.....

Federal outlays by quarter:

1st: 966,188

2nd: 884,957

3rd: 809,969

4th: 907,912

http://www.fms.treas.gov/mts/mts.pdf


spin all you want the facts (from your own treasury department) don't lie....

obama's economy-crippling assault on everything is catching up to him. Unfortunately, they were able to lie cheat and cover the damage for about 6 months too long.

[flyboy56]

Spend a $1 to make a nickel.

[ivanbalt]

Driven largely by a 22% reduction in defense spending. This should put an end to the conservative foolishness that the key to economic growth is austerity, but it won't.

Austerity isn't good for economic growth, but then again neither is a false economy in the long term.

[flyboy56]

Austerity isn't good for economic growth, but then again neither is a false economy in the long term.

Governments will have to learn the hard way that they cannot control the free markets. Any mingling on their part only makes the coming crash worse. Economists can be so egotistical.

[musicmd]

Governments will have to learn the hard way that they cannot control the free markets. Any mingling on their part only makes the coming crash worse. Economists can be so egotistical.

The free markets

[Spot72]

LIE!

The gubment spent MORE in FY12Q4 than the previous 2 quarters.....

Federal outlays by quarter:

1st: 966,188

2nd: 884,957

3rd: 809,969

4th: 907,912

http://www.fms.treas.gov/mts/mts.pdf


spin all you want the facts (from your own treasury department) don't lie....

obama's economy-crippling assault on everything is catching up to him. Unfortunately, they were able to lie cheat and cover the damage for about 6 months too long.

Dec. 31, 2012 15.83T
Sept. 30, 2012 15.81T
June 30, 2012 15.59T
March 31, 2012 15.48T
Dec. 31, 2011 15.32T
Sept. 30, 2011 15.16T
June 30, 2011 15.00T
March 31, 2011 14.81T
Dec. 31, 2010 14.74T
Sept. 30, 2010 14.58T
June 30, 2010 14.41T
March 31, 2010 14.27T
Dec. 31, 2009 14.13T
Sept. 30, 2009 13.95T
June 30, 2009 13.89T
March 31, 2009 13.92T
Dec. 31, 2008 14.08T
Sept. 30, 2008 14.40T

http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp

Source: The United States Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis




1. For most Americans we are still in some form of recession (perhaps not worsening) and we are in a continued economic slump. Unemployment at 7.8% or so establishes that.

2. We again see the truth of Ike's warning of the danger of the military industrial complex. Cut military spending, and it has a strong negative impact on economic growth. It's quite a trap we've set for ourselves on that score.

3. History teaches that there are only two genuinely effective ways to rebound in times like these: go to war on a massive scale, or pump sufficient dollars into the economy in the form of spending on infrastructure and other domestic needs to stimulate and sustain growth, and create jobs.

[flyboy56]

Dec. 31, 2012 15.83T
Sept. 30, 2012 15.81T
June 30, 2012 15.59T
March 31, 2012 15.48T
Dec. 31, 2011 15.32T
Sept. 30, 2011 15.16T
June 30, 2011 15.00T
March 31, 2011 14.81T
Dec. 31, 2010 14.74T
Sept. 30, 2010 14.58T
June 30, 2010 14.41T
March 31, 2010 14.27T
Dec. 31, 2009 14.13T
Sept. 30, 2009 13.95T
June 30, 2009 13.89T
March 31, 2009 13.92T
Dec. 31, 2008 14.08T
Sept. 30, 2008 14.40T

http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp

Source: The United States Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis




1. For most Americans we are still in some form of recession (perhaps not worsening) and we are in a continued economic slump. Unemployment at 7.8% or so establishes that.

2. We again see the truth of Ike's warning of the danger of the military industrial complex. Cut military spending, and it has a strong negative impact on economic growth. It's quite a trap we've set for ourselves on that score.

3. History teaches that there are only two genuinely effective ways to rebound in times like these: go to war on a massive scale, or pump sufficient dollars into the economy in the form of spending on infrastructure and other domestic needs to stimulate and sustain growth, and create jobs.

The Depression is different than what we are experiencing. If they had pumped more money into the economy the chances were good they would have pulled out earlier than when they did which was around the end of WWII. And we did not have the enormous debt we have today which is costing us interest wise. Today we are facing a multi-bubble economy. And a GDP to debt ratio exceeding 100%. The Fed has admitted they have limited tools to use. And, if we cut spending it could drive us back into a recession or we could just continue to spend and hope we turn things around. But if we don't and the Fed loses control of the interest, think how much we will be paying for our debt. We are paying about .25 %.