Economy crawls, raising recession fears

[rodeodance]

Source: ap



Economy crawls, raising recession fears

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer 13 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - The worst economic growth in four years is raising concern that troubles in the U.S. housing market will spread and throw the country into a recession before the year is out.

The economy practically crawled at a 1.3 percent pace in the opening quarter of 2007, the
Commerce Department reported Friday. That was even weaker than the sluggish 2.5 percent rate in the closing quarter of last year.

The main culprit in the slowdown: the housing slump, which made some businesses act cautiously. The bloated trade deficit also played a role.

Consumers largely carried the economy in the first quarter. But will they stay resilient in light of the troubled housing market, fallout from risky mortgages and rising energy prices?

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070427/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy;_ylt=AiVeVCwdlsoSLGEZ_pFUGKDMWM0F

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Must . . . . keep . . . . proles . . . . shopping . . . .

If you won't go into debt for your country, then leave for Russia.

[madrchsod]

2. i don`t know..could it be-

10-12 billion each month sucked out of the economy due to the war? could it be we spend more on our military than all of the nations on our planet combined?

basic econ 101

[ryanmuegge]

7. Don't you know that it's our God-given right to dominate the world through force?

You terror st-coddling wimp. We need to spend more than everyone else to protect ourselves against everyone else, don't you know? See, it's for protection, not offense!

This is something not to be questioned, after all it's been US policy since Truman (and arguably much earlier).

We don't spend too much money on defense. We don't spend enough. Why don't you know that our defense spending has been gutted by the Democrats?!

We have to protect ourselves against Asian women in rice fields and Libyan aspirin manufacturers.

[BlueManDude]

3. Whaddya mean? The Brooks Brothers suit patrol on CNBC says everything's great?

Larry Kudlow spends more on facial peels each month than most people's mortgage payment.

[Joanne98]

8. LOL!

[ryanmuegge]

4. When even growth indicators look bad, you know things are scary.

After all, those deceptive growth numbers and the stock market are all our economy has to look good on paper.

By every other measurement, we've been fucked (and becoming exponentially more fucked) since the 1970s, accelerating in the mid-80s...breaking the speed of sound under Clinton's last couple of years and all of Bush's term.

Debt is the only thin that's been fueling our economy for three decades now.

[Captain Angry]

5. It will be "adjusted."

The news will say that the number was 25% too low or something in a few months. They'll leave out the fact that it means the adjusted number was 1.6, which is still 36% down.

The news will report how great things are because the adjusted numbers are 25% better than reported rather than 36% below the previous quarter.

Love it.

[kineneb]

6. fantasy vs. reality

fantasy- the economy is doing fine

reality- gas is going up, up, up.

All those on fixed incomes are screwed; our SSDI COLA was $38/month, just over one tank of gas for our modest-sized car. Guess it is more noodles and cheese for us.

[AX10]

9. You would never know that by listening to the cable "news" whores.

Recession is part of the economic cycle. Anyone who thinks that the economy will expand forever is an ass***! However, the economy will fall hard this time because of the Bush/GOP/Conservatives policies.

[onehandle]

10. Bush's 1991 recession is over? Doubtful.

His regime has been changing the rules and the numbers that support the rules for the last six years.

We're still in recession in many ways. The rich, however, are doin' fine.

[sarcasmo]

11. The Have and Have Not gap continues to widen.

Our drift toward third world status is about two decades from completion.