Breaking news! La recession est mort. RIP
It must be true; it was reported yesterday in both the Boston Globe and the WSJ.
Not surprisingly, the subheading of most fin-du-recession articles is something like "How come we aren't celebrating yet?"
Perhaps the public excitement about the announcement is tempered by the huge numbers of people still looking for work and the dismal outlook that predicts sluggish economic growth. Looming deficits, and lackluster housing demand. War. Supergerms. Fear of Bedbugs.
Does anyone else think it is odd that the group that tracks recessions took 14 months to figure out that the 18month recession technically began in December 2007 ended June of 2009 - last year!
In any line of work other than Economics, people would fire at you if you handed in your weekly status report fourteen months late.
The procrastinating Economic researchers defend the lag time by pointing out that it takes a lot of time and data to compile the report.
I would respond by saying, "You're fired!"
The report is obviously meaningless, useless and irrelevent. ( Just like the financial reports you get in the mail from your IRA mutual funds. In April you get a report on the period ended in January. How is that useful?)
"News" is supposed to be timely. Technical pronouncements about the state of the economy are not worthy of headlines, but may be of interest to those who enjoy semantic squabbles.
This set of definitions works for me:
Recession: when your neighbor is out of work
Depression: When you are out of work.
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More useful news:
Texting while driving is illegal in Massachusetts starting next month. Everyone should get busy texting and driving before it becomes a crime. I am updating this blog from my Blackberry driving 75 miles an hours,
eating a hot dog and not wearing my seatbelt. I don't see what the big pro__________________
{signal interrupted}
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