

Recession not official, for some value of official.  But it's real. - helveticaman

The Dow's in the shitter.  Unemployment's where it was in 1994.  Housing might as well be getting bombed.  Let's all acknowledge that no matter what the government (specifically the NBER) says, <i>we're already in a recession.</i>
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noodle
we've been in a recession for a while.

however, the government will almost never say we're in a recession currently.
they will acknowledge that we were in one once we're out, but if they prattle
on about how the current situation is bad, it will only make it worse.

which leads to us mistrusting them anyway. its a case of damned if you do,
damned if you don't.

~~~
helveticaman
>If they prattle on about how the current situation is bad, it will only make
it worse.

I see how this could be the case, but I also suspect that having an accurate
idea of how the economy is doing might help people. I don't think the consumer
confidence index is something that should only be really, really high. If, for
example, consumers realize they must tighten their belts, they may put less
money on their credit cards, freeing capital so it can address the current
credit crunch.

~~~
noodle
> If, for example, consumers realize they must tighten their belts, they may
> put less money on their credit cards, freeing capital so it can address the
> current credit crunch.

unlikely. the thing is, the credit crunch won't get fixed by people purely
saving. if everyone saves, companies will find themselves in tougher times
from small revenues, and although there might be more money to go around, the
businesses won't be there to borrow it.

both businesses and consumers need to be in that happy medium of spending,
saving, and borrowing to make the wheels turn.

