The American Economy: Feeling Better?
How’s this recovery working out for you? Good? Glad to hear it. Tell the rest of the country. In all seriousness, the economic indicators reported last week are abysmal. If this isn’t a double dip recession, it sure feels like it. Housing prices still continue to fall. The private sector only produced 53,000 jobs last month. It needs to produce about 200,000/month just to keep the unemployment rate steady (break even). The unemployment rate is up to 9.1%, but in reality is closer to 19% taking into account discouraged workers. Productivity is anemic. The chronically unemployed are at a higher percentage rate than during the Great Depression. Housing prices as a percentage of value have fallen more than in the Great Depression. America’s credit rating has been downgraded to negative. And last, but not least, the stock market is sliding. What’s really scary is the Alan Greenspan, former head of the Federal Reserve, said on CNBC last week that HE is afraid. If this guy is losing sleep ov