Eighty Percent of Americans Say U.S. Is Still in Recession

[marmar]

from 24/7WallStreet:



Eighty Percent of Americans Say U.S. Is Still in Recession
Posted: September 21, 2011 at 6:23 am





If pessimism is a marker for the ability, or lack thereof, to turn the economy around, there is little reason to be optimistic that things will get any better soon.

According to a new Gallup poll, “Although the last U.S. recession officially ended in 2009, the poll finds 80% of Americans believing the economy is currently in a recession, similar to what Gallup measured in each of the previous three years.”

The results are another example of the often measured divide between Wall St. and Main Street, although the gyrations of the markets show that divide may have begun to end. Investors have begun to show fear that earnings will not be good and that trouble in Europe could wreck the global economy

The Gallup numbers are the sign of a widening concern that the years ahead will be awful, economically. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://247wallst.com/2011/09/21/eighty-percent-of-americans-say-u-s-is-still-in-recession/#ixzz1YaWUCZuG

[Indydem]

1. I guess 80% of Americans are smarter than the president. n/t

[dbt]

12. If by "smarter," you mean they have more common sense than

the president, you may well be underestimating the figure. At least 80 per cent of Americans are not privileged enough to live in the safe and cozy BUBBLE that will cradle the Obama family for the rest of their lives.

Barack Obama is as far removed from the the way the rest of us live as Poppy Bu$h was when he thought checkout scanners were something new.

[Fumesucker]

2. The top 20% or so is not doing all that badly..

And the top 1% is doing gangbusters..

It's no surprise that the bottom 80% think things could be better though.

[ananda]

3. Being part of the bottom 80%...

... I couldn't agree more.

Except I would call it a corporocratic (or kleptocratic) induced Depression.

[ixion]

4. exactly

this isn't a recession. It's something much darker, much worse.

[raccoon]

5. Who you gonna believe, the pundits and economists or your lyin' eyes? nt

[MahayanaLotus]

6. Are we still afraid to use the "D" word?

We are already well past recession.

[Javaman]

7. a recession is when your neighbor loses his or her job...

a depression is why you lose your job.

old saying.

frankly, all of those pundits crowing about the recession being "over" are so completely out of touch with reality.

while the states show that we are out of, what is termed to be, a traditional recession, life on the ground, life in the trenches belies that fact.

we aren't in a "jobless recovery" were are in a jobless stagnation.

there is nothing "traditional" about what is going on in this nation right now. we have entered a new and scary land that is completely undefinable other then "end of empire".

[taught_me_patience]

8. The trend is more important than the actual number here

and the trend is down. Hell... this chart shows that 40% of Americans thought we were in a recession in 1999! Fools.

[BlueCheese]

16. My guess...

... is that the long straight lines indicate periods where the economy was doing well enough that Gallup didn't ask the question.

[mdmc]

9. ..

[treestar]

10. Thank the media for that nt

[durablend]

13. Yea, that must be it

Things are just plain AWW SOME for those without jobs!!!

[treestar]

15. That would always suck no matter what the economy

The issue was whether the recession is over. The media does everything it can to keep confidence down.

That is harmful to the unemployed, not good.

[KG]

11. time for a new definition of 'recession'.

one that reflects the situation of the denizens of Main St, not Wall St.

[rucky]

14. agreed.

It should have something to do with wages (or non-wages, as the case may be) and Cost of Living. Real wages & real cost of living.

Using GDP to measure our economic health won't cut it. Things get skewed when a majority of the GDP is enjoyed by a small minority.