There are a few quotes out there that we love to hate- Greenspan’s "a little froth" comment back in 2005 or Bernanke’s "green shoots" comment last April. Here’s another one we can snicker at six months from now:
"The great recession is over," said NABE [National Association of Business Economists] President-Elect Lynn Reaser.
"The vast majority of business economists believe that the recession has ended, but that the economic recovery is likely to be more moderate than those typically experienced following steep declines."
Here’s another good one from the same survey:
About two-thirds of respondents believed house prices would reach a bottom this year.
I’m afraid if they’d surveyed us we’d have projected more "froth" [especially in high end and commercial RE] and withering green shoots ahead- but then we aren’t "professionals".
snicker at 6 months from now???? i’m gonna go ahead and laugh hysterically now.
“Remain calm, all is well!”
– Chip Diller, Faber University
“About two-thirds of respondents have to believe house prices would reach a bottom this year.” That statement needed a little correction. The question is “How long can the government keep pouring money in to keep it propped up?” My answer is alot longer than I can remain sane about them doing so.
I heard Mark Zandi this weekend on Fox’s Cashin In show say that the recession is over. Then he spoke of a “fragile” recovery. Then…I heard he was an Obama advisor……
Nordaq-
It does seem like the administration is really trying to push “It’s a recovery- it’s just a jobless recovery.”
I wonder how well that will fly with the populace though. I suspect that most Americans don’t care what the state of the economy is when they have a good job. If they are unemployed, “recovery” is pretty meaningless.
Twist
A jobless recovery is working itself towards a jobless economy. After being unemployed during the last bubble crash I see fewer jobs created when it rebounds and the quality of those jobs are lower. The world used to envy America and it wasn’t because of the rich or the poor it was because of the standard of living for the middle class which is slowly being destroyed.