When will the recession end?

[Sam Spade]

Amusingly, the recession still hasn't started yet according to GDP.  Of course, that's a joke.

Of course, the government is known to inflate things to make it look better.  So, probably the powers that be will show some growth for two consecutive quarters sometime before the elections in 2010.  In fact, I would bet on it.

But let me be frank.  What we're seeing right now is only the beginning.  It's going to be ugly, worst since the Great Depression, maybe worse in fact.  We'll see.

[Sam Spade]

Massive spending on infrastructure and education = good.    No concern about balancing a budget = good.

Won't work - you'll see.  I meant to explain why in the other thread you started instead of my silly "yawn", but Torie already posted the why.

Look, U-6 unemployment jumped another 1.3% last month to 12%.  That's the number worth watching, not the government's cooked numbers.  And unemployment is a lagging indicator.  Be prepared - it's going to be ugly.

[Sam Spade]

Well, what can I say but that I trust Christie Romer, who was my professor last year and is an expert on depressions (as is Bernanke)?  Still waiting for an opinion on that skateboarding, swearing Geithner.  Honestly [well, it's not hard to be honest here] they know a lot more about the economy than you or me.  To me, it's all a matter of how much political considerations hamper doing the right thing, and that's sort of an unknown.

Obama's appointment of Vilsack today certainly isn't encouraging, unlike all of his previous cabinet picks.

They may know a lot and probably have studied a lot of history and economics, but don't think at any times that they're smarter than you are or necessarily are any more correct about the solutions.  Chances are they bought into a lot of the suppositions that led to our current plight.

The best suggestion I can make is to do your own inquiry.  Do some study of economics, behavior patterns, history, etc.  Read up on the specifics of corporations.

I'm no genius on economics (nor do I have a degree, unlike Torie), but I have done enough reading to where I have a halfway decent idea what's going on.

And hey, when I was working down in Houston, every housing deal I ever got my family into turned a sizable profit (25% or above, even after taxes).  Of course, those were during the house bubble days, but the bubble was never very big in Texas housing.  You did have to do some work to get that kind of profit. (ends bragging)

[Sam Spade]

sometime around when i shoot myself in the head

Guess that means job search not successful?

[Sam Spade]

Thanks for the note, Moderate.