Down the Tubes with Dubya

[smallmovesal]

?Que?

did you not make reference to the middle east?

 

[strong island]

did you not make reference to the middle east?

I am still lost..maybe I'm just distracted by your avatar...

Good read..for those that find it difficult just jump to the last paragraph.

"The Bush recovery

Registering a sizzling 5.8 percent annual growth rate during the first quarter, the U.S. economy expanded at its fastest pace since the fourth quarter of 1999, seemingly burying what would prove to be the mildest recession in postwar history. Closer inspection, however, indicates that the expansion still is not as firmly entrenched as the first quarter's growth acceleration might suggest.
Changes in inventory accumulation accounted for 3.1 percentage points, or more than half, of the quarter's 5.8 percent growth rate. That meant that final demand — the crucial aggregate economic statistic that represents gross domestic product less changes in inventories — grew by a much less robust rate of 2.6 percent. Given the impressive growth rates in productivity in recent years — a trend that continued even during the economic slowdown — final demand would probably have to grow by an annual rate greater than 3.25 percent in order for the unemployment rate to fall. Today, unemployment stands at 5.7 percent, or nearly two percentage points above the previous expansion's cyclical low of 3.9 percent.
Last week's Commerce Department report on first quarter economic activity essentially confirmed Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan's analysis. In his April 17 congressional testimony, Mr. Greenspan observed, "The behavior of inventories currently is the driving force in the near-term outlook." The Fed chairman concluded: "The pickup in the growth of [economic] activity, however, will be short-lived unless sustained increases in final demand kick in before the positive effects of inventory investment dissipate."
R. Glenn Hubbard, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told reporters that the key to long-term economic expansion is "a sustained turnaround in business investment." Indeed, more than any postwar economic downturn, the recent recession was caused by a major and sustained reduction in business investment. During the second half of last year, such business investment had been declining by more than an 11 percent annual rate. During the first quarter of 2002, that decline decelerated to less than 6 percent; and business spending on equipment and software finally seemed to bottom out, falling by only 0.5 percent. In terms of business investment, the worst may be behind us.
Meanwhile, consumer spending, which held up quite well even during the recession, increased at an annual rate of 3.5 percent during the first quarter. Exports, which declined by an average annual rate of nearly 14 percent during the previous three quarters, increased by nearly 7 percent during the first quarter. Reflecting the nation's response to the September 11 terrorist attack, spending for national defense increased last quarter at the fastest rate since the Vietnam War.
With inflation remaining extremely subdued, the Fed, as Mr. Greenspan indicated, will be free to maintain its accommodating monetary policy in the near term. Moreover, it should now be clear to all that the president's tax cut helped to sustain consumer spending since last summer, significantly moderating the impact of the recession that began less than two months after Mr. Bush entered office. Now let us talk about the Bush recovery instead."

 

[Longhorn85]

Musclebrains, you could have just as easily title this thread: "Bitter Bush-Bashers Unite!"

Bush is clearly doing a great job. His most recent foreign policy success is averting War between India and Pakistan.

http://washtimes.com/commentary/20020625-46834324.htm

But it doesn't stop there. Bush's latest proposal for Mideast peace is consistent with his style. He lays out bold policy that liberals like you guys get up in arms over, and people like RyanH say we should be embarrassed about, then he goes right into the face of criticism, takes it head on, and comes out a winner.

That's what he did during his campaign, that's what he did in Kyoto, that's what he did going abroad right after his "Axis of Evil" comments, and that's what he's doing when he goes to Canada for the G8. Watch the other members trip over themselves to get a photo op with the leader of the free world for the folks back home.

Smalls, don't be afraid, your Country will be friggin' ecstatic to have W in town for a while.


W continues to baffle liberals. He will be re-elected overwhelmingly while you scratch your heads.

 

[strong island]

Jeezx I am glad the right-wing fuckwits on this page are over in the US where they can't influence European social policy. We like our social democracy just fine here, thanks. (And anyone who doesn't know the difference between socialist and social democracy, I suggest studying Russian history c. 1900-1920, you should find it enlightening).

circusgirl

awww...aren't you precious. Scotland huh.

 

[musclebrains]

LOL...I believe the effect of widespread layoffs on the productivity rate has been well examined -- and ignored here. Nice try, though. Where's that from? And how in the world was the final paragraph's conclusion reached from those preceding it?

 

[strong island]

Musclebrains....I think you should change your name. I am sick of wasting my time with you. You can't understand how economic cycles work...so please stop posting ignorant statements.

Thank you.

 

[smallmovesal]

I am still lost..maybe I'm just distracted by your avatar...

*sigh*

well, your war comment just reminded me that if not for selling weapons in the middle east, there would be less of a chance of the type of war the US has been seeing.



ttlpkg - this is foryou

 

[musclebrains]

But it doesn't stop there. Bush's latest proposal for Mideast peace is consistent with his style. He lays out bold policy that liberals like you guys get up in arms over, and people like RyanH say we should be embarrassed about, then he goes right into the face of criticism, takes it head on, and comes out a winner.

That's what he did during his campaign, that's what he did in Kyoto, that's what he did going abroad right after his "Axis of Evil" comments, and that's what he's doing when he goes to Canada for the G8. Watch the other members trip over themselves to get a photo op with the leader of the free world for the folks back home.

Smalls, don't be afraid, your Country will be friggin' ecstatic to have W in town for a while.


W continues to baffle liberals. He will be re-elected overwhelmingly while you scratch your heads.

LOL...Bold policy with utterly NO way of implementing it. In other words: rhetoric. We can all agree Arafat is a liability. What is Dubya's plan for convincing the Palestinians to dump him? "PUrty please, y'all, git rid of him and I promise -- and I DO keep my promises -- that you'll have an independent Palestinian state."

Dubya is a winner...with people who support him. With the world community and a growing portion of Americans, watching their economic fortunes fade as the rich get richer, he's nothing of the kind.

By the way, if you reduce efficacy to the demand for a photo op, I guess that makes Ronald McDonald great presidential material.

 

[strong island]

*sigh*

well, your war comment just reminded me that if not for selling weapons in the middle east, there would be less of a chance of the type of war the US has been seeing.



ttlpkg - this is foryou

I agree.

 

[the nature boy]

I'm still waiting to learn about economics.