Forget Econ Stats, Do Americans Feel Economic Exhuberance or Malaise?

[EconChick]

Bottom Line: No one feels this economy is going gang busters. Intuitively, Americans know something's wrong.

We econ geeks can spend hundreds of hours on this board throwing around economic statistics, but my guess is the average American/average reader doesn't read threads in the Economy section. It's too wonky.

Oldfart commented that my posts don't sound the way most macroeconomists talk. I can't stand how most macroeconomists talk. Most don't speak in a way that normal Americans can understand. They speak to out-geek the next geek. Just like every econ professor I ever had.

I'd like this to be a thread meant for "normal" Americans - those living out on main street, not Wall Street - who just want to know why they're not feeling optimistic about their economic situations and what can be done about it.

This thread is meant to involve people who want more "intuitive" answers about the economy.

Let's see if we can manage to do that.

 

[Dad2three]

Bottom Line: No one feels this economy is going gang busters. Intuitively, Americans know something's wrong.

We econ geeks can spend hundreds of hours on this board throwing around economic statistics, but my guess is the average American/average reader doesn't read threads in the Economy section. It's too wonky.

Oldfart commented that my posts don't sound the way most macroeconomists talk. I can't stand how most macroeconomists talk. Most don't speak in a way that normal Americans can understand. They speak to out-geek the next geek. Just like every econ professor I ever had.

I'd like this to be a thread meant for "normal" Americans - those living out on main street, not Wall Street - who just want to know why they're not feeling optimistic about their economic situations and what can be done about it.

This thread is meant to involve people who want more "intuitive" answers about the economy.

Let's see if we can manage to do that.

Weird after 8 years of Dubya/GOP 'job creator' policies why wasn't the US economy booming?

 

[EconChick]

Here's a great example, quoted by Andrew in another discussion about the Unemployment Rate:

"People change their behavior to reflect the fact they do have income coming in, verses those who have no income coming in. Those who did not, were more likely to get back into the work force quicker."




Talkin' about common sense here.....

 

[deltex1]

In my world people have money....but they also have guns. Understand?

 

[g5000]

In my world people have money....but they also have guns. Understand?

Ooooooh. Scary talk! You big scary man!

I bet you have a big belt buckle, too.

No brainz to offer solushuns, so must resort to gunz.

 

[g5000]

When Bush hit a recession, he told everyone to go out and buy stuff.

A society which depends that heavily on internal consumption fueled by credit is doomed.

 

[deltex1]

When Bush hit a recession, he told everyone to go out and buy stuff.

A society which depends that heavily on internal consumption fueled by credit is doomed.

"Fueled by credit" is the problem. Sorry if you choked when you swallowed my "belt buckle".

 

[g5000]

When Bush hit a recession, he told everyone to go out and buy stuff.

A society which depends that heavily on internal consumption fueled by credit is doomed.

"Fueled by credit" is the problem. Sorry if you choked when you swallowed my "belt buckle".

A girl in the know once told me a big belt buckle is a tombstone for a dead dick.

 

[deltex1]

When Bush hit a recession, he told everyone to go out and buy stuff.

A society which depends that heavily on internal consumption fueled by credit is doomed.

"Fueled by credit" is the problem. Sorry if you choked when you swallowed my "belt buckle".

A girl in the know once told me a big belt buckle is a tombstone for a dead dick.

Sound like you have checked many a tombstone, Irving.

 

[R.C. Christian]

Then by all means please crawl back underneath your tombstone Gee5000.

 

[EconChick]

Bottom Line: No one feels this economy is going gang busters. Intuitively, Americans know something's wrong.

We econ geeks can spend hundreds of hours on this board throwing around economic statistics, but my guess is the average American/average reader doesn't read threads in the Economy section. It's too wonky.

Oldfart commented that my posts don't sound the way most macroeconomists talk. I can't stand how most macroeconomists talk. Most don't speak in a way that normal Americans can understand. They speak to out-geek the next geek. Just like every econ professor I ever had.

I'd like this to be a thread meant for "normal" Americans - those living out on main street, not Wall Street - who just want to know why they're not feeling optimistic about their economic situations and what can be done about it.

This thread is meant to involve people who want more "intuitive" answers about the economy.

Let's see if we can manage to do that.

Weird after 8 years of Dubya/GOP 'job creator' policies why wasn't the US economy booming?

Bush's economy over his full 8-yr tenure was great compared to that of Obama's 5.5 years. And that's even WITH the fact that Bush had the jolt of 9/11 attacks on the economy to deal with.

After the jolt of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the highest the unemployment rate rose was 6.3% in June, 2003.

This rate seems remarkably low by today’s economic standards.

Then the economy calmed down and actually grew, dropping the unemployment rate to the mid 5% range, where it stayed for the next two years.

In fact, the rate was 5.4% in November, 2004 when Bush was reelected.

Really good news came in December, 2005 when the unemployment rate dipped to 4.9% and stayed in the 4% range straight through to November, 2007.

Then in December, 2007 it went to 5.0%, rose slowly and really shot up in August, 2008 to 6.1%. When the economy tanked, the rate blew right through the 6% range ending December, 2008 at 7.3%.

At that point, we were dealing with the financial bubble brought on by very long term conditions contributed to by both Democrats and Republicans. Both parties get blame for that crisis.

But for most of his tenure, Bush provided quality FULL TIME jobs in far greater numbers than has Obama.

 

[deltex1]

When Bush hit a recession, he told everyone to go out and buy stuff.

A society which depends that heavily on internal consumption fueled by credit is doomed.

"Fueled by credit" is the problem. Sorry if you choked when you swallowed my "belt buckle".

A girl in the know once told me a big belt buckle is a tombstone for a dead dick.

Too late for rewording your post..

 

[EconChick]

In my world people have money....but they also have guns. Understand?

Indeed I do. In fact, there's still a chance that the Keynsian bubble being built now through our big spending fiscal and monetary policies could be the biggest bubble we've seen yet in our history. And if it bursts, those guns are going to mean a lot.

I believe it will burst - just as all bubbles do. I just can't tell you exactly when.

 

[g5000]

But for most of his tenure, Bush provided quality FULL TIME jobs...

...through the use of a massive credit expansion.

Like I said. Doomed.

I like how his apologists leave out the most important part. You know...the CRASH.

 

[EconChick]

Gentlemen, could I ask a favor. If you've read many of my posts, you'll see I like wallowing in the mud as much as anyone. Liberals give me the same visceral reaction because having been one in my youth, I know from where they pull many of their poor arguments.

Let's see if we can get back on track and try to stay relatively civil And I know it's asking a lot for both sides.

 

[g5000]

Gentlemen, could I ask a favor. If you've read many of my posts, you'll see I like wallowing in the mud as much as anyone. Liberals give me the same visceral reaction because having been one in my youth, I know from where they pull many of their poor arguments.

Let's see if we can get back on track and try to stay relatively civil And I know it's asking a lot for both sides.

First, I am not a liberal. Just because I recognize Bush for the gigantic retard he is does not make me a liberal. I am, in fact, old school conservative. And I am more than happy to go toe to toe with you any day about the economic situation. I have probably written more words about it in the past six years than you have in your entire life. I am well aware of the root causes and who is to blame.

Basically, EVERYONE is to blame. But the hacks would like us to believe it was the negroes and the CRA. That's always a dead giveaway someone is an idiot, when they blame the CRA.

 

[Dad2three]

Bottom Line: No one feels this economy is going gang busters. Intuitively, Americans know something's wrong.

We econ geeks can spend hundreds of hours on this board throwing around economic statistics, but my guess is the average American/average reader doesn't read threads in the Economy section. It's too wonky.

Oldfart commented that my posts don't sound the way most macroeconomists talk. I can't stand how most macroeconomists talk. Most don't speak in a way that normal Americans can understand. They speak to out-geek the next geek. Just like every econ professor I ever had.

I'd like this to be a thread meant for "normal" Americans - those living out on main street, not Wall Street - who just want to know why they're not feeling optimistic about their economic situations and what can be done about it.

This thread is meant to involve people who want more "intuitive" answers about the economy.

Let's see if we can manage to do that.

Weird after 8 years of Dubya/GOP 'job creator' policies why wasn't the US economy booming?

Bush's economy over his full 8-yr tenure was great compared to that of Obama's 5.5 years. And that's even WITH the fact that Bush had the jolt of 9/11 attacks on the economy to deal with.

After the jolt of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the highest the unemployment rate rose was 6.3% in June, 2003.

This rate seems remarkably low by today’s economic standards.

Then the economy calmed down and actually grew, dropping the unemployment rate to the mid 5% range, where it stayed for the next two years.

In fact, the rate was 5.4% in November, 2004 when Bush was reelected.

Really good news came in December, 2005 when the unemployment rate dipped to 4.9% and stayed in the 4% range straight through to November, 2007.

Then in December, 2007 it went to 5.0%, rose slowly and really shot up in August, 2008 to 6.1%. When the economy tanked, the rate blew right through the 6% range ending December, 2008 at 7.3%.

At that point, we were dealing with the financial bubble brought on by very long term conditions contributed to by both Democrats and Republicans. Both parties get blame for that crisis.

But for most of his tenure, Bush provided quality FULL TIME jobs in far greater numbers than has Obama.

RIGHT WING CRAP. I'm shocked, shocked I tell you




Bush Lead During Weakest Economy in Decades

"For a group that claims it wants to be judged by history, there is no evidence on the economic policy front that that was the view," Holtz-Eakin said. "It was all Band-Aids."



"It's sad to say, but we really went nowhere for almost ten years, after you extract the boost provided by the housing and mortgage boom," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Economy.com, and an informal adviser to McCain's campaign. "It's almost a lost economic decade."

The Economic Consequences of Mr. Bush | Vanity Fair

DEC 2007

The Economic Consequences of Mr. Bush

The next president will have to deal with yet another crippling legacy of George W. Bush: the economy. A Nobel laureate, Joseph E. Stiglitz, sees a generation-long struggle to recoup.

The Economic Consequences of Mr. Bush | Vanity Fair




The Economists' statement opposing the Bush tax cuts was a statement signed by roughly 450 economists, including ten of the twenty-four American Nobel Prize laureates alive at the time, in February 2003 who urged the U.S. President George W. Bush not to enact the 2003 tax cuts; seeking and sought to gather public support for the position. The statement was printed as a full-page ad in The New York Times and released to the public through the Economic Policy Institute. According to the statement, the 450 plus economists who signed the statement believe that the 2003 Bush tax cuts will increase inequality and the budget deficit, decreasing the ability of the U.S. government to fund essential services, while failing to produce economic growth.

In rebuttal, 250 plus economists who supported the tax plan wrote that the new plan would "create more employment, economic growth, and opportunities for all Americans."

Economists' statement opposing the Bush tax cuts - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

NOW WHICH SIDE WAS CORRECT?




Right-wingers Want To Erase How George Bush's "Homeowner Society" Helped Cause The Economic Collapse



http://www.usmessageboard.com/economy/362889-facts-on-dubya-s-great-recession.html


BOTH SIDES? LOL

 

[LoneLaugher]

What is the OP looking for? Personal anecdotes?

The OP's take on Bush's economy is funny. Clearly the work of an accomplished economist.

 

[deltex1]

In my world people have money....but they also have guns. Understand?

Indeed I do. In fact, there's still a chance that the Keynsian bubble being built now through our big spending fiscal and monetary policies could be the biggest bubble we've seen yet in our history. And if it bursts, those guns are going to mean a lot.

I believe it will burst - just as all bubbles do. I just can't tell you exactly when.

Santelli agrees with you... What G 00000 didn't get was that people who have money are nervous...not confident...so must be ready when the liberals come knocking for what is left after the crash.

 

[g5000]

Republicans love the poor. How else do you explain why they made so many of them?

Obama only knows how to spread wealth around, not create it. That is one of the key reasons we are still in this malaise.

But the biggest reason, by far, is our overhanging public and private debt. We crossed the red line in 2001. Until we seriously deleverage, we will have a sluggish economy always on the brink of disaster.