Hooray! The Global Recession is Over!
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Federal Reserve Chairmen Says US Will Have Positive Growth before the End of 2009
Last Thursday, May 7th, Benjamin Bernanke, the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman, announced in a press conference that the U.S. will see positive growth before the end of this year and that for all practical purposes the global economic downturn is over. We have officially hit bottom, and now the only way forward is up, up, up.
He did say that, well, full employment may take awhile, sure, but all in all, things seem to be on the right track and all is right with the world again.
Rilly?
I guess as a resident of Michigan and a terminal Cassandra by nature I can be somewhat forgiven for taking this happy announcement with a grain of salt.
Let me list some reasons:
Chrysler is going bankrupt, GM appears to be next, I'm out of work six months now, and my partner just took a 5% pay cut and a cut in benefits after 25 years on the job. Our house has depreciated about 20% in only two years and a property I can't sell at any price in Indiana is mortgaged for four times its current value, not because I mortgaged it for more than it was worth back in 2005, but because its value has fallen that far and continues to plummet month by month. I will probably lose it. Soon.
What I want to know, and what no has yet explained to me, even though I keep asking the same question over and over again, is "Where is this recovery coming from?"
Retail sales just announced far worse numbers than anyone expected, and at this moment Wall Street is very unhappy about that. Of course, tomorrow they'll be happy again about some weird fleeting newsbite and then in a few days they'll be unhappy again. We all know by now that the people who work on Wall Street are basically insane, although they are a tad bit smarter than the people who still think that the gyrations of the DOW mean something and therefore watch its every burp and fart for clues about what will happen next.
Where is the recovery coming from?
People have to make money to spend money, and right now, not very many people are making money. That's a fact. Industrial jobs are already mostly gone and now the auto industry is downsizing radically. Health care supposedly has lots of jobs, but now that field must also become leaner or else, and besides, not everybody can be a heart surgeon or even a practical nurse. The financial industry has already shed a gazillion jobs and needs all the money they do have for CEO bonuses anyway, and the service sector continues to tank.
Add to that an impending commercial real estate crisis, and it raises the question:
Where is the recovery coming from?
Well, no matter. It's here, somehow, some way, and I missed it. The recovery came to the train station and I was waiting at the boat dock. The recovery came to a theater near me and I was waiting at the miniature golf course. The recovery came to Navy Pier and I was waiting at Yankee Stadium.The recovery came to McDonalds and I was waiting at Arbys.
Damn. I just can't get right. I can't. It must be me.
But at least everything is alright now and everybody is doing great.
I'm going to go have a beer.
Or twenty.
OK, not really. But chocolate sounds good.
Want to Send a Message to the Banks?
Here is a web site that outlines a protest idea that actually could send a pretty powerful message. It's not without risk, but it's an interesting idea:
Check it out, and if it makes sense to you, good luck.
Hooray! The Global Recession is Over! in the News
- StephanomicsBBC News5 days ago
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Comments
Cleverly written hub. I think I need a brandy, oops no money for that so I will fish that piece of chocolate from the bottom of my purse and join you!
Yeah, I saw that too and had much the same reaction. I *hope* that the infrastructure and alternative energy projects Obama stuck in the stimulus package will help, but I'm not hugely optimistic, and I'm concerned that alternative energy could be the next boom in the perpetual boom-and-bust cycle we seem to be stuck in, which I don't think would be as beneficial in the long run as alternative energy should be.
CNBC is getting it wrong. Their associate, Bill Seidman died today. He advocated taking the big banks over, but CNBC seems to be for keeping the banks intact with their big control over the governments of the world.
Ashley, I did leave this hub and make a pan of brownies. 15 minutes to go, and I'm gonna eat some too. I'm not even sorry! lol!
Gypsy--Enjoy that piece of chocolate! I wish you were here, I'd share my brownies with you when they're done.
kerryg--I really think we will be in the dumps for 5 years or more, and that what is coming will be very hard and to some extent unpredictable. I agree that alternative energy is shaping up to be another boom cycle followed by another bust unless some financail regulation is put back in place--so far no hint of THAT. Lots of money for the banks, no spine for reinstating Glass-Steagall or breaking down these monsters or anything that makes a lick of sense for ordinary people. It's very scary.
bgamall--CNBC is such a whore for the financial industry. Seriously, they are a joke, barely even worth watching. It makes me totally ill. I have no idea where this country is headed, but I doubt its toward any kind of sustained recovery--not yet. Thanks for you comments.
What they don't go into detail about Pam, is who the crisis is over for. As usual, it's over for the cretins that caused it.
They've got their, I should say OUR, money and the big banks will emerge bigger and more powerful than ever.
The ranks of the working poor will continue to swell as will the armies of the poor and impoverished.
The Project For A Third World Amerika is on schedule and lookin good! Everything is going according to plan.
I'm thinking of starting a small business.
Shanty Town Interior Design.
Cash or Barter.
No checks or credit cards accepted.
Yes, I think you may be on to something there, CWB. I am hoping they don't make Alpo out of my beloved and myself, but we're none too sure. Soylent Green, here we come! (Is that the new 'green' economy?)
I'm no economics major, but it seems to me quite simple, really. All they have to do is print more MONEY! Lots and lots of more money!
That's the "green" economy:-).
Another good one. Pass the Godiva, please.
. . . No need to take this information "with a grain of salt"!
When the Audit the FED bill (S.604 and H.R. 1207) is passed, if it is, all that information will be available, maybe, so you'll know that the informtion is valid. . . . Possibly.
Pam, this hub reminded me of an old Shirley Temple movie where someone yells 'the Depression is over,' and little Shirley and BoJangles or Buddy Ebson or whoever leap into a joyous dance.
Hey MM, why didn't I think of that!?! What a great idea!
Bud, how lovely. Soon we will have total transparency on top of a recovery! This just gets better and better!
Delores, I think I saw that movie! That was some dancin', huh? If only I'd kept up with those tap lessons...
I'm with you - I can't see any recovery here in the UK this year either.
LG--The press here, it's almost better to ignore them, especially when it comes to the recession. You can't believe most of it.
Look around at empty parking lots at the mall, and the number of businesses going under yet they just keep outsourcing. Gee, it’s not rocket science; no jobs=no money=can’t buy! I think we are in so deep, thanks to GREED, that it’s going to take longer than a year for us to pull out of this.
I just keep looking over my shoulder. Where I sit in hardware distribution business is not too bad. Malls are being renovated on the east and west coasts, there are hardware re-fits or new buildings or something going on in Nebraska, California and New York, and the government work seems pretty steady, too. What does that mean about the greater economy? I don't know. I'm just a damn locksmith.
We have to start making stuff here. I don't know how it can be done, but if our economy becomes completely based on paper, to me that just sounds like a really bad scene.
Hi Tom,
I worked in two corporate environments, first in insurance for a global company and then in banking, so I've seen the 'based on paper' economy close up and it left a very bad taste in my mouth. Actually insurance wasn't as bad as banking--in some ways it was more cut and dried, but I still dealt with a lot of angry people. The bank was maybe the worst job I have ever had in my life. I only lasted just over a year and a half and I should have left sooner.
I agree that we need to make things here again. Everyone can't be a heart surgeon or a computer geek, there have to be jobs for ordinary people that generate a viable income. We need this not just for the people who can't be heart surgeons, but for the whole economy. When people don't have money they can't spend money unless they go over their heads in debt, and we've gone way past what is sane with that. So we need good jobs.
I personally think we will go through a 5 year or longer period of high unemployment during which we will adjust as a country to both a lower standard of living and a lower ranking globally. I don't think that's all bad, but I don't think it will be pleasant. I just don't see how we can compete in manufacturing now. We've lost it, it can't come back, and I see nothing on the horizon to replace it.
Life is full of surprises though. You never know what might develop unexpectedly. Thanks for your thoughts. :)
Hooray The Global Recession is Over
what a wonderful hub! I'd not heard of them before, fascinating.
AshleyVictoria says:
7 months ago
Chocolate does indeed sound good.
Hopefully recovery is indeed in the near future.