General Category > Economy/Business
Oops! Economic Growth Wasn't So Great After All
mystery-ak:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100678290
Published: Friday, 26 Apr 2013 | 9:06 AM ET
U.S. economic growth regained speed in the first quarter, but not as much as expected, which could heighten fears the already weakening economy could struggle to handle deep government spending cuts and higher taxes.
Gross domestic product expanded at 2.5 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday, after growth nearly stalled at 0.4 percent in the fourth quarter. The increase, however, missed economists' expectations for a 3.0 percent growth pace.
Part of the acceleration in activity reflected farmers' filling up silos after a drought last summer decimated crop output. Removing inventories, the growth rate was a tepid 1.5 percent.
Given the smaller-than-expected increase and signs the economy has weakened in recent weeks, the GDP data will probably weigh on U.S. stocks. It could also give ammunition for the Federal Reserve to maintain its monetary stimulus.
continued at link
Relic:
Just as I don't understand the thinking of the average American, I don't understand what's happening economically. I've been reading dire predictions for almost 5 years about how Obama is going to wreck the economy. Hyper inflation, mass panic, crashing market, plague, locusts, dogs and cats living together!
While it's not going well, it's not crashing as predicted. :shrug:
massadvj:
--- Quote from: Relic on April 26, 2013, 02:55:15 pm ---Just as I don't understand the thinking of the average American, I don't understand what's happening economically. I've been reading dire predictions for almost 5 years about how Obama is going to wreck the economy. Hyper inflation, mass panic, crashing market, plague, locusts, dogs and cats living together!
While it's not going well, it's not crashing as predicted. :shrug:
--- End quote ---
The establishment has many, many arrows in its quiver to keep things propped up. The Soviet Union had a far more controlled economy than ours, and it was able to keep it going for 70 years. Nonetheless, what we have is not a free market by any means, and it will succumb to greater and greater central control until it inevitably collapses. But I do not believe that time is at hand, or near at hand.
As for inflation, there has been plenty of de facto inflation as Americans have seen their paychecks go down or stagnate as staples such as energy and food increase. There may be no wage inflation, but the purchasing power of consumers is decreasing just as if there were inflation. This is the end result of central planning policies that prop up corporations, banks and pension funds at the expense of upward mobility for the average person.
My own thinking is that I would never bet against the establishment. That's like betting against the Union in the Civil War. But you shouldn't put all your eggs in that basket, either. My investments run the entire gamut: from precious metals, to real estate, to stocks and bonds, to art and antiques. As events unfold, I tweak things here and there but I always remain invested in everything. Recently, precious metals have been down, so I've been buying coins. I also bought quite a bit of real estate in the past few years and improved some of the real estate I own. My pension is in stocks, and that has improved quite a bit since the 2008 bust.
All of this is the result of an increasing money supply which has continued unabated since 2008. So long as there is no wage inflation, and so far it looks like there won't be, the expansion will likely continue. But I don't delude myself into thinking that what we have resembles anything close to a free market. What the government giveth the government can always take away, and I assume at some point the other shoe will drop. It's just a matter of time before the Fed will have to tighten money, and when that happens, all markets go down.
Bigun:
--- Quote from: Relic on April 26, 2013, 02:55:15 pm ---Just as I don't understand the thinking of the average American, I don't understand what's happening economically. I've been reading dire predictions for almost 5 years about how Obama is going to wreck the economy. Hyper inflation, mass panic, crashing market, plague, locusts, dogs and cats living together!
While it's not going well, it's not crashing as predicted. :shrug:
--- End quote ---
One of the MAIN things they are doing is infusing cash into the economy at the rate of $85 Billion per month every new dollar of which makes the one you already have in your pocket worth less!
SouthTexas:
Growth? What growth?
Guess that also falls under the new jobs category.
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