Well, yes, that's how economics works.

LOL WUT?

Since we don't need that 10%, can I burn them for fuel?

How does this work? Seriously? The gov't handed out money for cars and houses. That doesn't mean the economy is turning around. I mean, I see the deficit is growing but I don't see how the economy is growing. Isn't the growth artificial?

I love the implication that there are "jobs" out there anymore. We still live in a mental state where it's perpetually 1905 and, if the economy is good, we can walk up to the front gate of the blast furnace, hat in hand, tell the foreman we work real hard and our boy, Tiny Tim, has a sick lung and could we please get a job we'd be forever in debt to 'ya.

All "jobs" means today is "Wal-Mart is hiring." Otherwise, shiat thousands of dollars down the higher educational sinkhole and, if your school's got contacts, you get a job when you're done. If not, Wal-Mart's hiring.

bluefelix: Isn't the growth artificial?

yup..not to mention it's one quarter.
Things go up and down.

When the seasons change from Fall to Winter, there may be a day that was warmer than yesterday but it doesn't mean we skipped winter and went straight to spring.

Humans are short-sighted, so many will see this as the end of the recession.

Fortunately, I'm far more pessimistic and I see this crap economy being dragged out for years.

Employment is a trailing indicator. To make profits bigger, most companies cut costs (i.e. employees). So when they start getting more work, they're going to try to do it with the employees they have so they can make a higher profit.

If the economy continues to improve and we don't have a double dip recession employment numbers should pick up. If they don't, then our economy is farked because consumer spending is the basis of the whole ponzi scheme.

\Which is why the Zombie Reagan plan won't work
\\Investors are no longer what drives the economy

Zentelis: yup..not to mention it's one quarter.

Since when has the business world cared about what happened more than a quarter from now?

WOOT! I can give up bartending and finally get a real job!

\I have noticed more jobs on the job boards recently.
\Hell one temp agency actually called me back as well.

Protecting rich corporate campaign contributors.

SameOldSameOld.

/hopeychangey

Whodat?: I love the implication that there are "jobs" out there anymore. We still live in a mental state where it's perpetually 1905 and, if the economy is good, we can walk up to the front gate of the blast furnace, hat in hand, tell the foreman we work real hard and our boy, Tiny Tim, has a sick lung and could we please get a job we'd be forever in debt to 'ya.

All "jobs" means today is "Wal-Mart is hiring." Otherwise, shiat thousands of dollars down the higher educational sinkhole and, if your school's got contacts, you get a job when you're done. If not, Wal-Mart's hiring.

I never got a degree, the country was in a recession when I got my first job. I did what I needed to do to survive. I applied myself and improved my skill set. Right now I am doing very well, never had a worry that I wouldn't find another job if something happened. Still don't. Point is, it's not about college or contacts, it's about ability and willpower. You have to work for things in this life (with the exception of some that do have money and contacts).

As a great man once said...'World needs ditchdiggers too'.

bluefelix: How does this work? Seriously? The gov't handed out money for cars and houses. That doesn't mean the economy is turning around. I mean, I see the deficit is growing but I don't see how the economy is growing. Isn't the growth artificial?



"In prison I learned that everything in this world, including money, operates not on reality - but the perception of reality."

bluefelix: How does this work? Seriously? The gov't handed out money for cars and houses. That doesn't mean the economy is turning around. I mean, I see the deficit is growing but I don't see how the economy is growing. Isn't the growth artificial?

Government spending is part of this number so any growth was growth in our borrowing...

Whaddya know, printing and borrowing a trillion dollars that we can't repay worked in the short term. Let's keep doing it, our GDP will go to like 15%!

bluefelix: How does this work? Seriously? The gov't handed out money for cars and houses. That doesn't mean the economy is turning around. I mean, I see the deficit is growing but I don't see how the economy is growing. Isn't the growth artificial?

The growth is real. Just because it was boosted by Government spending, does not make it artificial but it might mean that it is temporary.

Whodat?: I
All "jobs" means today is "Wal-Mart is hiring." Otherwise, shiat thousands of dollars down the higher educational sinkhole and, if your school's got contacts, you get a job when you're done. If not, Wal-Mart's hiring.


Small company I work for has announcments up for about 30+ jobs and has for months. Most people just aren't qualified. And I bet a lot of people are discovering that their degree in Poetry Writing means fark all now. It's worth throwing thousands of dollars down the higher education sinkhole if you major in something people actually need.

Spade: Whodat?: I
All "jobs" means today is "Wal-Mart is hiring." Otherwise, shiat thousands of dollars down the higher educational sinkhole and, if your school's got contacts, you get a job when you're done. If not, Wal-Mart's hiring.


Small company I work for has announcments up for about 30+ jobs and has for months. Most people just aren't qualified. And I bet a lot of people are discovering that their degree in Poetry Writing means fark all now. It's worth throwing thousands of dollars down the higher education sinkhole if you major in something people actually need.

Who's talking about degrees is poetry writing? That's the first refuge of those that don't want to face the problem: our economy does not create jobs that people can live on in anything approaching the necessary number.

Ummm... considering the explosion of Government Spending and "monetary easing", a.k.a., making up money; how is 3.5% good?

Does anyone have good site to look at the component numbers of the GDP. I would love to see how much of this GDP number is solely based on the Government shoveling money out the door.

To be fair the government has also spent billions in helping states extend unemployment benefits to people out of work. And they're probably going to have to extend them again.

mrshowrules: The growth is real. Just because it was boosted by Government spending, does not make it artificial but it might mean that it is temporary.

It just means the statistic is flawed. Growth of government comes directly from wealth created in the private sector--whether that be today's taxes or tomorrow'.

mdbirt: Does anyone have good site to look at the component numbers of the GDP. I would love to see how much of this GDP number is solely based on the Government shoveling money out the door.

About 1.7% (new window) as:

Motor vehicle output added 1.66 percentage points to the third-quarter change in real GDP after
adding 0.19 percentage point to the second-quarter change.

This is from the Cash for Clunkers program and bailouts. Actually 3.5% is good without government bailouts. If we get to 3.5%-4.0% for a couple of quarters after the bailouts and government incentives like the Home Buyer Tax Credit then we are well on our way to recovery.

Of course the government knows this and will probably extend all sorts of incentives and continue stimulus packages to make sure it stays about +3-4%. The long term ramifications are probably bad but unknown as we will be drowning in debt if it goes on for years. What does unending debt and a "jobless recovery" mean for a modern nation? I don't know.

Good day to short the S&P. A robust recovery is already priced in - when it becomes clearer that the GDP 'growth' was mostly the government giving away money we dont have, and that a recovery at all is still uncertain, let alone a robust one, there's gonna be a reckonin'

bluefelix: How does this work? Seriously? The gov't handed out money for cars and houses. That doesn't mean the economy is turning around. I mean, I see the deficit is growing but I don't see how the economy is growing. Isn't the growth artificial?

THIS

oneodd1: Growth of government comes directly from wealth created in the private sector--whether that be today's taxes or tomorrow'.

That's not entirely right unless you mean inflation is another form of taxation. Governmental growth and the money supply comes from debt in our system, both private and public.