October 29, 2009

Happy Days are Here Again

3Q growth is positive. Recession over. Whew, that was terrible, glad it is over.

Posted by John Kranz at October 29, 2009 10:08 AM

When I saw this news, I thought, "If the GDP growth is supposed to be so good, why am I still so pessimistic?"

Previous rebounds have been sharper than this. Three-odd percent is just normal growth. Loose monetary policy alone has historically produced bigger rebounds, and right now we have as loose monetary policy as we've had (plus monetizing the debt) with fiscal stimulus.

And even if you believe the Keynesian bunk, it's all "government stimulus," so the economic boost will fade. Then where will we be?

Oh, and when the economy does start growing, and demand for goods and services returns to normal, we'll have inflation thanks to the massively inflated money supply.

Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at October 29, 2009 11:42 AM

Jimmy P adds some cold water (don't need that in Colorado today!)

That the US economy has stopped shrinking is certainly good news. But what kind of recovery is this? Strip out Cash for Clunkers and 3Q GDP growth came in at 1.6 percent. Also strip out slowing inventory cuts and GDP would have been just 0.6 percent. Then you have a report that the WH has overestimated the number of jobs created by the stimulus.

Posted by: jk at October 29, 2009 1:58 PM

"Then you have a report that the WH has overestimated the number of jobs created by the stimulus."

Of course it overestimated. One net job is overestimation; remember your Bastiat.

These jobs were created courtesy of newly created money, but they are still a shift: jobs today at the expense of private sector jobs in the future.

Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at October 29, 2009 2:12 PM | What do you think? [3]