Announcement of arrival of ECONOMIC RECESSION today:

[debbierlus]

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/05/news/economy/recession/index.htm

Welcome to the recession everyone. I see this was slipped out on Super Tuesday, not much mention.

First I have seen that says what we all KNOW; recession isn't coming, it's HERE.

[tnlefty]

1. Thanks for posting this!

:kick: and Rec'd.

[tekisui]

2. Dow down 300 points today.

We are in it. The promise of a *stimulus package*, and the slashing of the interest rates by the Fed weren't enough.

[formercia]

9. The temporary gain is lost

Just like the previous stimulus packages, the upward momentum gained was soon lost and the markets are sliding downward again.

The Fed will soon have to pay people to take their soon to be worthless money.

[Wednesdays]

3. Interesting sidenote to the accompanying video:

"Recession is the least of our worries. The days of the American empire might be at an end, Fortune's Andy Serwer argues."

Indeed. Maybe it's time for America to end its "empire" and go to the bargaining table with other countries of the world as an equal, cooperative player.

[cliss]

4. Just wait till March.

According to most estimates, March 2008 could be a financial meltdown.

One of the biggest problems are the sub-prime mortgages. There will be more and more resets, until March. This means that more and more people will lose their homes. I was expecting around 2 million homes to be foreclosed in March. Now I've read actually 3 million. this is a holocaust beyond belief.
There is simply no way the government, or any banks or lending institutions can do anything about it.

Recession?
If that's all it is, we can count ourselves fortunate.

[debbierlus]

5. Let's keep it K&R - It is very significant

I bet Edwards would have not let this go unnoticed. This is a HUGE admission from the financial sector. Their several year game of pretend is over.

[and-justice-for-all]

6. There are many small businesses closeings..

where I live. I never really noticed it before, it is very apparent now. Some have been open for years too, just another severed vein from shrubCo.
Oh, that fuck-it budget 'plan' of his!!!DO NOT GET ME STATRED ON THAT SHIT!!

[Warpy]

7. The Dow keeps trying to correct

and this bunch keeps pouring funny money into it, first by ruinous tax cuts to people who didn't need them and put the money into the market and now by equally ruinous rate cuts.

People who don't live off the market have been in recession for 7 years. It, like the likely depression, will only be noticed long after it is over.

The GOP believes two fallacies, first that the Depression was caused by the crash in the Dow. It wasn't. It was caused by concentrating wealth into few hands at the top and allowing people at the bottom easy credit to compensate for depressed wages for a couple of decades. Sound familiar?

Second, that WWII ended the Depression. Actually, the country was well on the way to recovery by the late 30s. Government jobs in everything from the arts to building a lot of the infrastructure we take for granted like the TVA projects gave people money to spend. When demand reappeared, production was geared up once again and private employment started to outstrip public employment. WWII just caused a labor shortage that caused wages to rise more quickly than they would have, otherwise.

Everything is in place for another depression and we won't be able to borrow and spend our way out of it like FDR did, Stupid has shut that door and nailed it shut. We're going to have to tax and spend our way out of this one, thus making all the dire prophecy of the GOP come true.

It is getting to the point where they're out of hot air and wishful thinking and that the Dow is going to correct, at last. I'm just glad it will begin to do so while Stupid is in office. I predicted 7000 by the time he's gone. I hope I wasn't optimistic.

[arendt]

10. I would K&R your response if I could. Agree with it all.

They cut rates by a total of 1.25% in a week, and the Dow tanks 300+ points.

Time to pull a Joe Kenenedy, Sr. and sell short. Anyone looked at that market stat about open short sales? I forget what the correct jargon for the stat is.

arendt

[RuleOfNah]

11. What would it look like if the USA was drown in a bathtub?

Is premeditation off the table?

[southern_belle]

8. k & r