Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Money & Business

Capital Commerce

Dude, Where's My Recession? The Series

July 11, 2008 12:19 PM ET | James Pethokoukis | Permanent Link

No recession, yet. Strong trade numbers continue to boost the economy, folks. I am so going to win my bet with Barry Ritholtz of the Big Picture:

This from Macroeconomic Advisers:

The trade balance through May was much stronger than expected. Soft production-side indicators, though, suggest less domestic spending given very strong net exports. Based on this information, we raised our tracking estimate of GDP growth in the second quarter by five-tenths to 3.5%.

This from JPMorgan:

The real trade balance improved considerably in May, and trade is now on track to contribute 1.5% to 2.0%-point to 2Q GDP growth, up from our previous estimate of 0.9%-point. That would lift our tracking estimate of 2Q GDP growth to at least 2.5% from 2.0%, and could put it over 3.0%.

Tags: economy | GDP | recession

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Reader Comments

Barry Ritholz

I've given up on Barry to the point I have dropped him from my bookmarks.

All is Well . . ALL IS WELLL!!

Seriously, James, get yourself some help . . .

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About the Capital Commerce Blog

Send an E-mail to capcom@usnews.com.

James Pethokoukis is the money and politics blogger for U.S. News & World Report , where he writes the monthly Capital Commerce magazine column. Pethokoukis is also the assistant managing editor of the magazine's Money & Business section. He has written for many publications including the New York Times, the American, USA Today, Investor's Business Daily, and TCS Daily. Pethokoukis is also an official CNBC contributor and appears frequently on that network's Kudlow & Company, Power Lunch, and The Call shows. In addition, he has appeared numerous times on MSNBC, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, CNN, and Nightly Business Report on PBS. A 1989 graduate of Northwestern University where he double majored in Soviet politics and American history and a 1991 graduate of the Medill School of Journalism, Pethokoukis is a 2002 Jeopardy! champion.

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