Economy Tanking Further….How’s That ‘Change’ Working Out For Ya?

There is good and bad news if you just talk about the bad then you're only telling the side you want to exploit.. Put simply you're being dishonest.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/0...

Chris G. Christopher Jr., a senior economist at IHS Global Insight, estimated that the economy grew at an annual rate of 1.3 percent in the April-June quarter and that growth would probably stay below 2 percent in both the third and fourth quarters.

Mr. Christopher said the biggest problem was meager job growth. Consumers have also been rattled by volatile stock prices stemming from Europe’s debt crisis.

Some of the sting of Monday’s retail sales report was eased by a separate report from the Commerce Department that American companies added to their stockpiles in May. When businesses step up restocking, they tend to order more goods, leading to more factory production.

Business inventories grew 0.3 percent in May from April, matching April’s increase. Business sales fell 0.1 percent in May, matching the April decline. Total stockpiles rose to $1.58 trillion in May, nearly 20 percent higher than the low point in September 2009.

Separately, factory activity in the New York region is growing at a slightly faster pace, according to a survey issued Monday. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said its Empire State manufacturing index increased to 7.4 in July from a reading of 2.3 in June. Any number above zero indicates growth.

http://www.conference-board.o...

Weekly jobless calims shot up. Well gee whiz folks Business and Republican politics in an unholy alliance against the middle class and working poor. Lay them off so business shrinks and then you lay off more and it shrinks again. It is call reactionary business. At some point you close the doors and then put more people out of work. Viscious cycle into the abyss.

Foreclosures is the direct result of GREED plain and simple. Were I a banker of a major bank right now I'd want to be SAVING as many people and keeping them in their homes as possible, making it a great PR tool later when things get better.

Layoffs cause lower demand, lower demand lowers production. again a viscious cycle.

Yep, the reserves of reasonable not trashed foreclosures have dried up and all that is left is the trash. AND none of the major builders are willing to open up new or old projects to fill the need. Again a viscious cycle.

And when people are laid off they don't buy things.

When you've lost your job and friends have too, then it has that effect.

Inventories are as a result of the above

GDP is a direct reflection of all the above.

Food prices are a direct result of crop failures, utilitiy costs and fuel prices. LABOR costs have been stagnant for three years.

Let's get very real on this one. We have had 650000 people retired out of the military over the last 5 years. Over 40% have injuries that qualify them for disability. Additionally, those people who were injured and contined to work have been LAID OFF by uncaring and disrespectful businesses. Proof. A car dealership was sued recently by an employee and won after the employer had fired him for not being able to do his job after coming back from an industrial injury cause by poor management and forced use of unsafe equipment which had been deemed unsafe earlier that same day. Seems the dealership ignored the removal form service and forced the employees to use it anyway. GREED. Plain and simple.

The net of all this is that the Republicans and business are driving us into the abyss just as fast as they can. The problem with this however is that they wil only be able to do this for so long and then it becomes irreversable. Then you have a major crash and you get a depression. An economist friend of mine says that unless the Republicans get off their butts and pass some of the jobs bills that are sitting in the Senate which have languished there for 2 years or more, immediately! it won't matter who president, we will have a depression which will knock your socks off and will take 40 years to recover from.