Well, Is The Recession Over Or Isn't It?

Looks like even the 'experts' ( ) in the White House don't know.

First we have Lawrence Summers, Director of the White House's National Economic Council for President Barack Obama, on ABC News.



Then we have Christina Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Obama administration, on NBC's Meet The Press.



Well, which is it?

It depends in what side of the fence you are,

If you are on the top "small percent" that are to get millions in bonuses, I guess you are out of the recession and very well rewarded.

But if you are in the "majority that are facing unemployment" then you know that the recession is now a full blown depression.

reply to post by marg6043


Well somebody is right, isn't it.

Amazing how they cannot get this right, lol.

Depends. Are you talking about Wall Street or Main Street?

Wall Street: Yep recession is over.

Main Street: Not by a long shot.

Kinda happens when you bail everyone out but the people.

Originally posted by whatukno
Depends. Are you talking about Wall Street or Main Street?

Wall Street: Yep recession is over.

Main Street: Not by a long shot.

Kinda happens when you bail everyone out but the people.

----------------------------------------------------------
Yeah, it depends who you ask.
For Government Sachs .....oops i mean Goldman Sachs .... not
only is the recession over but business is BOOMING !!!
It reminds me of a Wall Street line by Gordon Gekko.
"If your not inside then you are outside."
Goldmans friends in Washington D.C. have given Goldman Sachs
an incredibly bright future.

reply to post by Eurisko2012


If this civil war ever takes place they should be the first target just for spite.

Well let's see...I have two weeks left on my unemployment. Wonder if they will extend me another round? It gets shorter each extension. When the unemployment benefits run out is when you will see the real slow down. This economy is being kept up by massive bailouts at the top coupled with bare costs of living being provided at the bottom. I still see many families in my neighborhood who have had their children move back home, and who are combining households to save money.

It's not over by a long shot.

Originally posted by Eurisko2012
It reminds me of a Wall Street line by Gordon Gekko.
"If your not inside then you are outside."

Too true, in everything with regard to gambling, its inside info that can make money. Probabilities and all that rarely make you anything above normal savings rates.

Originally posted by andy1033

Originally posted by Eurisko2012
It reminds me of a Wall Street line by Gordon Gekko.
"If your not inside then you are outside."

Too true, in everything with regard to gambling, its inside info that can make money. Probabilities and all that rarely make you anything above normal savings rates.

Here is another way to look at it.
- The Golden Rule -

Those who have the gold make the rules.

First of all. They are all full of B.S.

The unemployment number going down last month was only due to seasonal employment and people running out of benefits. I know several other engineers that took another job only to be let go a month or two later with the new job. Once they hit that, they get no more benefits and do not add to the new numbers. This is happening more than one would like to know.

I did this after six months of benefits, finally had a contract. It went for one month. It took me three more after that to get back in the loop, but just on extended. They only thing that saved me is the amount of money I do make when working. I call every week, and don't know if I will still have anything or not.

There are no jobs that I can take home more money, so I just keep going. I really hate it. 2009, what a waste of a year.

As far as Wall Street goes, I don't get why people let them gamble with their money. That is all they do. Professional gamblers. They make produce nothing, contribute nothing. They make paper and trade and sell it. There are some comodities, but look at what they did with oil and gas.
They totatlly screw us in the name of a quick buck for nothing.

Any person that is a Constutionalist, Capitolist that believes and knows what our fore fathers laid out, would shut down Wall Street and take power and rights away from large corporations.

Why would a company have more rights than an individual citizen? It's just not right.

I think after New Years about Feb. when numbers start coming back, the other foot will drop.

Originally posted by marg6043
It depends in what side of the fence you are,

If you are on the top "small percent" that are to get millions in bonuses, I guess you are out of the recession and very well rewarded.

But if you are in the "majority that are facing unemployment" then you know that the recession is now a full blown depression.

This is pretty much true.

The well off before September 2008 are doing fine again, but the ones that were teetering before then are most likely down a few pegs. It would be impossible to be up from then for 75% of the public I am thinking.

The good thing is we dont really care about MONTHLY numbers we care about the CURVE.

Good news is as well it is fitting all models for a turn around coming this new year at sometime. And guess what? It's actually just like most economic models drew up about 8 months ago. It would be nice to start to actually have money for something again soon haha.

I dont think the recession is over, and I doubt anybody is really that willing to announce its over. The truth is, even though the GDP has been increasing again and jobless rates are slowing down, we are still in depressive times, and we still have financial and debt issues nationally.

Things may be looking up in comparison to the last few months but that doesnt mean the recession is over, and I dont think anybody wants to jump the gun on this one. Its only been a year anyway so I doubt the worst financial collapse since the depression will be fixed within such a time. The fact is, it took us years to get us to this financial crises, imagine how long it will take to completely come out of it??

I agree with some of my fellow ATSers that it does often apply to what fence your sitting on. Those on the righthand side of the fence will be all doom and gloom, which in part suits their agenda, and those on the lefthand side will be more positive, as again it would suit their agenda. But the fact is that nobody can reference anything to indicate sound judgement that we are out of it.

Originally posted by Ferris.Bueller.II
Looks like even the 'experts' in the White House don't know.

Obviously they dont know, "experts" or not. Nobody with common sense can clearly claim the recession is over right now, infact the line between recession and stable economic times is blurred. Your blaming them for something nobody could really be expected for predicting. I'd bet my bottom dollar if they answered either way, you'd be going on about that. I mean you make your partisanship in this matter so apparent Ferris.


[edit on 13-12-2009 by Southern Guardian]