It's official: U.S. is in recession Economy began shrinking in December 2007, panel declares <SCRIPT>getCSS("3060335")</SCRIPT><LINK href="/default.ashx/id/3060335/" type=text/css rel=stylesheet itxtvisited="1"><SCRIPT></SCRIPT><TABLE class=boxH_3060335 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300 itxtvisited="1"><TBODY itxtvisited="1"><TR itxtvisited="1"><TD class=boxHC_3060335 noWrap width=* itxtvisited="1">Market update </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=boxB_3060335 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300 itxtvisited="1"><TBODY itxtvisited="1"><TR vAlign=top itxtvisited="1"><TD class=boxBI_3060335 itxtvisited="1"><SCRIPT src="http://msnbc.msn.com/databox/data.aspx?dbid=3060654&s=$INDU,$COMPX,$INX&js=1&" type=text/javascript></SCRIPT><TABLE itxtvisited="1"><TBODY itxtvisited="1"><TR itxtvisited="1"><TD class=textSmallestBlack itxtvisited="1"></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE class=boxF_3060335 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=300 itxtvisited="1"><TBODY itxtvisited="1"><TR itxtvisited="1"><TD class=boxFI_3060335 itxtvisited="1"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <SCRIPT>getCSS("3053751")</SCRIPT><LINK href="/default.ashx/id/3053751/" type=text/css rel=stylesheet itxtvisited="1"> <SCRIPT>getCSS("3053751")</SCRIPT> BREAKING NEWS msnbc.com news services updated 6 minutes ago<SCRIPT language=javascript> function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) { var n = document.getElementById("udtD"); if(pdt != '' && n && window.DateTime) { var dt = new DateTime(); pdt = dt.T2D(pdt); if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n.innerHTML = dt.D2S(pdt,((''.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));} } } UpdateTimeStamp('633637514110930000');</SCRIPT> WASHINGTON - The economy fell into recession late last year, according to a panel of economists that is responsible for determining the dates of business cycles. Monday's declaration by the panel of the National Bureau of Economic Research confirms what many private economists, lawmakers and members of the general public already have assumed and puts an official date on it: A U.S. recession began in December 2007. That was the same month employment peaked, and the economy began shrikning in a downturn that has been exacerbated by the financial crisis that took hold of markets beginning in September. <SCRIPT type=text/javascript>dap('&PG=NBCSM4&AP=1089','300','250');</SCRIPT> The White House commented on the news without ever actually using the word “recession,” a term President George W. Bush and his aides have repeatedly avoided. Instead, spokesman Tony Fratto remarked upon the fact that the NBER “determines the start and end dates of business cycles.” “What’s important is what is being done about it,” Fratto said. “The most important things we can do for the economy right now are to return the financial and credit markets to normal, and to continue to make progress in housing, and that’s where we’ll continue to focus.” The NBER's seven-member Business Cylce Dating Committee met Friday and determined that economic activity peaked last December and has essentially been declining since then. Payroll employment peaked that month and has declined every month since then, with the economy shedding some 1.2 million jobs, the committee noted in a statment on the NBER Web site. The committee's determination puts an end to an expansion that began in late 2001 and latest 73 months. The previous expansion in the 1990s lasted 10 years, or 120 months. A common definition of a recession is a periof when the nation's gross domestic product shrinks for two consecutive quarters, but the committee noted that GDP figures have been erratic this time around. GDP fell in the final quarter of 2007 but then rose in the first half of 2008 before falling again in the third quarter of this year. Nevertheless the committee found that other key figures -- including personal income, industrial production and wholesale sales -- all peaked between November 2007 and June 2008. The committee defines a recession as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in production, employment, real income and other indicators." The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Those of us who work for a living have known this for a long time now. What I fear is that "recession" maybe too charitable a term for what we are experiencing right now.
"Political" criminals are always slow to grasp on to what is happening to our beloved homeland. It's a shame that they sit on their brains most of the time and speak out their you know what rapidly like a chain gun and feed us lies and b.s. in hopes we believe what they are saying to be truth...unfortunately many of these blokes feel the average joe is as stupid as they come.
Lordy! Do I know...I use to be a member of a different forum, but had my share of stupid people there. Perhaps this could be summed with the dumbing down of american mind?
I hate to say this BB, but the "average joe" is as stupid as they come. It is a known fact that the general intelligence of main stream America has been in decline for quite some time now. TV being the main culprit for the dumbing down of America. Main street America wants nothing more than to be entertained, and who owns and controls the entertainment industry? Why the liberal left, and what better way to influence human behavior and thinking abilities than to keep the masses occupied. This was the exact same way that Rome was able to keep the masses from rising up and changing their system before it was too late. The "Coliseums" were built for the sole reason of "entertainment", and the masses bought into it hook, line, and sinker.
oy...yes that is very true...I never was one for TV or the newspapers as these remind me more of propaganda tools. But I suppose those who come home from work after a long day and plop down in front of the tube...many believe what is being said and don't look beyond the truth of what this "entertainment" is doing. I'll admit, I am not up on gov't since I don't listen to them to begin with. I keep my ears tuned to SW as much as possible and try to soak a great deal of other info in, while ignoring the political criminals as much as possible.
