Paul Krugman, arrogant heir apparent for the mantle of chief cheerleader for demand-side Keynesian nonsense wrote on December 1 in the New York Times, [also known as the Jihad Guardian]: “The last time things were this confused was early in 2001, when most economists failed to realize that the United States was sliding into recession. If that sounds ominous, it should: the bond market, which has a pretty good record of forecasting recessions, is pointing toward a serious economic slowdown next year…”
Paul of course was predicting a 2007 meltdown! It was the same prediction he has made every year since 2001. Why a major newspaper would hire this guy is puzzling. He would not even get the job as economics commentator at the local high school bugle sheet. But he and the mainstream media can find nothing right about the US economy so ergo all opinions stress the dire and ignore the positive.
The Denver Post reported in November 2006 the same doom scenario as Krugman; “Nouriel Roubini, president of Roubini Global Economics, recently predicted a "deep and nasty" recession based on what he is calling the worst housing downturn in five decades. A Deutsche Bank forecasting model placed the chances of a recession next year at 40 percent.” Nice forecasting DB. Housing starts are up in the past 2 months and prices have increased by 1.4 % year over year.
The Economist Magazine has been cheering for a US housing slowdown and recession for 5 years now. I am still awaiting their hugely anticipated economic meltdown even as the British toffs turn their support to the moronic ravings around Global Warming.
CNN of course can’t stand the US economic surge. On November 17 2006 it ran an analysis worrying that; “It's hard to overstate the damage of losing so much potential buying power [from the housing bust]. Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg has argued that cash-out refis were the only reason the economy weathered the gas-price hikes this year and last. Gordon is so worried about the disappearance of cash-out refi money that he's predicting a recession in 2007 or 2008.” Good job forecasting CNN. GDP growth was 3.5 % in the 4th quarter of 2006.
Apparently according to these and other experts the US economy is in terrible shape. This is why the employment rate is at 75 %, the highest in history; 2.2 million jobs were produced in 2006; and GDP grew at 3% last year. Productivity measured in output per person per year is over 3 % year over year, versus 1 % in Canada and about 0 in Europe. This means the US is getting wealthier while the back-patting Canadians and mirror-obsessed Europeans are getting poorer. GDP rates in Canada and Europe both significantly lag the US reinforcing the picture of US dynamism and state-controlled schlerosis.
Larry Kudlow ex-of the Reagan administration and economic expert put it best on January 23 2007: “The fact is, jobs continue to boom. So do real incomes, productivity, and profits. Economist Michael Darda points out that real wages over the first five years of the Bush expansion are actually growing more rapidly than over the first five years of the Papa Bush/Bill Clinton boom……….Meanwhile, unemployment today is only 4.5 percent. Federal, state, and local tax collections are soaring through the roof. Budget deficits are plunging. Inflation-adjusted GDP is averaging just more than 3 percent. Family wealth stands at a record of slightly more than $54 trillion. Total employment is at a record 146 million.”[ http://author.nationalreview.com/latest/?q=MjE0OA==]
Yep sounds pretty bad to me.
How about remembering this? While fighting 2 wars and enduring 9-11 and Katrina, the US economy has expanded by 30% while during the same period Canada’s increased by only 10% and Europe’s barely moved. Why is this? Canadian governments own more than 43 % of GDP, and EU governments own 45-50% of GDP. The comparable US figure is 32%. State owned economies are not progressive, not innovative and are not productive.
But nary a good word about the US economy will appear in the mainstream media. Just imagine if Hitlery Clinton or her fast food loving husband were now in power! Glorious tributes would be lavished on a US economic ‘miracle’ that would make Roman emperors of times-past blush.
Pity. In my view the US is over-taxed; over-regulated; and has political corruption that needs to be fixed. Fixing immigration; controlling the border; winning the Iraq war; reducing spending, reducing taxes – all these and more are vital issues to be addressed. Yet compared to the multi-cult jamborees of Europe and Canada the US is far freer politically, economically and in some sense morally then their Western counterparts.
Objective observers should expect that in 2007 the US economy will grow at more than 3%. The US housing market will rebound in the 2nd half of 2007 [all signals point to such a recovery] and the US Fed Reserve will lower rates sometime during the year further stimulating more investment and capital allocation. The stock markets will continue to post record highs in 2007 improving the net wealth of the 70% of Americans that now own stock.
It bears repeating. US economic dynamism is anathema to the socialist and liberal elite. They want statism, control, redistribution, wealth management and economic micro-organisation. The US economy grows because of its anti-socialist orientation. Low tax rates, productivity, innovation and optimism suffuse the US economic picture. So one should not be surprised that in the mainstream media, and in state controlled societies, there are always cries [and hopes] for a US economic collapse.
If the Americans can cut their budget spending and stop their slide into statism, they will double their economic size in the next generation – something that the envious Canadians and duplicitous Europeans will never manage - irregardless of what their state owned propaganda issues forth.
