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Post by redwolf on Mar 3, 2008 10:50:40 GMT -6
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Post by unlawflcombatnt on Mar 3, 2008 21:14:18 GMT -6
Buffet is right. All major indicators and most statistics indicate we're in a recession. Total Employment in January was less than at the end of the 3rd quarter of 2007. Real weekly wages have declined -1.4% since the end of the 3rd quarter. This reduces the wage-financed component of aggregate Consumer Spending power by at least -1.4%. Real Consumer Spending has increased a total of +0.2% over the last 4 months, which would be an annualized increase of only +0.6%. Construction Spending has declined -$46 billion, or -4%, since the end of the 3rd quarter, and -$59 billion since the originally posted January 2007 Construction Spending total. For the month of January 2008, Construction Spending declined by -1.7%, the most in 14 years. Residential Spending has declined -20% in the last year alone. Investment and Consumer spending are also being suppressed by the credit crunch. If consumers have less money from wages to spend, along with less borrowed money to spend, there's no way we aren't already been in a recession. When the 72% of our economy attributable to Consumer Spending declines, and when the 8% of our GDP attributed to Construction Spending is declining, it's hard for the remaining 20% to offset it. Again, Buffet is right. We're already in a recession.
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