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Friday 
09 January 2009
the pause that retrenches
paul krugman is a nobel prize-winning economist/columnist/professor of economics and international affairs at princeton.
so when he says the global economy is about to implode, it’s a sobering alarum (not to mention allurement to knock back a shot or two).
The fact is that recent economic numbers have been terrifying, not just in the United States but around the world. Manufacturing, in particular, is plunging everywhere. Banks aren’t lending; businesses and consumers aren’t spending. Let’s not mince words: This looks an awful lot like the beginning of a second Great Depression.
it’s not the first time we’ve heard the dire warnings, of course. people have been whispering the “d” word for months, despite denials and derision from those whose failed policies got us here in the first place.
as it turns out, the u.s. economy entered recession in december of ‘07. it was a year and a fiscal meltdown later that the bush administration noticed, “huh…this doesn’t look so good.”
News reports say that Democrats hope to pass an economic plan with broad bipartisan support. Good luck with that.
In reality, the political posturing has already started, with Republican leaders setting up roadblocks to stimulus legislation while posing as the champions of careful Congressional deliberation — which is pretty rich considering their party’s behavior over the past eight years.
barack obama has been handed a perfect storm of crises, which the outgoing administration says no one could’ve foreseen. where have we heard that before?
obama has yet to take office, but is coming to grips with the enormity of the train wreck that is still unfolding…
“Nearly 2 million jobs have now been lost and on Friday we are likely to learn that we lost more jobs last year than at any time since world war II,” the president-elect said. The speech came the day after the Congressional Budget Office released new figures showing that the federal budget deficit is set to reach $1.2 trillion this year.
a wistful look back on the recent holidays reveals that the hiring uptick normally associated with december wasn’t particularly robust in 2008. in fact, the u.s. economy lost another half-million jobs, driving unemployment to 7.2%. holiday retail sales were described as “dismal,” begging the question: why do americans hate the baby jesus so much?
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important update: it was just reported on local radio that we can boost the economy by buying an rv at unheard-of prices at the tacoma rv show. patriotic americans should go to tacoma to buy a gas-snarfing rv as soon as possible.
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