Economy showing signs of permanent downshift

[133724]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A slowdown in U.S. productivity growth poses a long-term challenge to the U.S. dollar and is adding to the difficulty of financing a gaping trade deficit.

The dollar has fallen to a record low against the euro this year, weakening against most other currencies along the way, as U.S. economic growth slows and economies in Asia and the Europe motor ahead.

Signaling that the dollar's woes may be far from over, U.S. productivity growth, the bedrock of a strong U.S. economy and dollar in the 1990s, has slowed for three straight years and is showing some signs of a permanent down-shift.


http://www.reuters.com/article/reutersEdge/idUSN2933038720070529?src=053007_0729_INVESTING_comment_n_analysis

[jebediah]

1. downshift for more power, baby!

We're putting on the fat nubbies and taking this economy off road! Our economy is on track to become a workhorse plow, an earthmover, a low gear / high power juggernaut. The Euro is a plastic toy, good for the smooth stretches but lousy in the real muddy world. We're like a rock, ford tough, and just doing it.

Mr. Snow, this material is now copyrighted. Reuse in whole or part is subject to approval.

It's hard to imagine all the different ways a good spinner might take things.

[iconoclastic cat]

2. That was awesome. 43 posts from you? Come on! We need snark! nt

[jebediah]

6. Snark is all I can manage on short notice. I'd strive for better

but I think I may be culturally incapable of intentional irony.

[leftofthedial]

3. why should I invest my energy in some fucking corporation

that will throw me away like garbage the second someone offers them a nickel to do it?

Fuck this economy. It's little more than indentured servitude.

[Connonym]

5. Amen on that

keep us in constant fear and we'll be unable to revolt. Meanwhile the rich get richer.

[barb162]

4. There are things lining up for a perfect storm; it's unsustainable

Taxpayers on the hook for $59 trillion
By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY
The federal government recorded a $1.3 trillion loss last year — far more than the official $248 billion deficit — when corporate-style accounting standards are used, a USA TODAY analysis shows.
The loss reflects a continued deterioration in the finances of Social Security and government retirement programs for civil servants and military personnel. The loss — equal to $11,434 per household — is more than Americans paid in income taxes in 2006.

"We're on an unsustainable path and doing a great disservice to future generations," says Chris Chocola, a former Republican member of Congress from Indiana and corporate chief executive who is pushing for more accurate federal accounting.

snip
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-05-28-federal-budget_N.htm