Sunday, November 23, 2008

Money & Business

Capital Commerce

Mental Recession? Maybe. Economic Recession? No

July 16, 2008 03:21 PM ET | James Pethokoukis | Permanent Link | Print

Reader Comments

All is well. ALL IS WELL

If you keep repeating it enough, does it become true?

One plus one equals...

"It should be noted that only twice in the last three decades—at the end of 2001 and 1982—did firms destock at the pace seen in 1H08..."

Umm... aren't 2001 and 1982 exactly when we last had recessions? Way to keep cherrypicking the good data and ignore the housing bust, energy prices, bear stock market, credit crunch, financial market freeze...

Give it up

I have to agree with Josh -- Bloomberg isn't exactly a left wing media outlet, and they are in the Recession camp:

It's All Over But the Dating for U.S. Recession: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=aFR.kFWcXvEw&

WOW

All I can say is wow.

I'm wondering if you really live in the same country as I do.

You definitely don't live in the same reality as I do.

1) Profit margins at nonfinancial companies remain healthy.

ahhem construction, high end retail, auto, aviation, etc

2) Trade remains strong.

Our dollar is buying us less and less every day. Cost of transportation is rising and will continue to for the foreseeable future.

3) Businesses will have to rebuild their inventories

I have no idea what this has to do with anything. I suspect nothing. Bunch of schizophrenic statistics about nothing that matters.

"If you keep repeating it enough, does it become true?"

Yes. If you keep repeating "Recession", it becomes true.

Good Data

I for one appreciate the data points you're keeping alive in the public debate, which would otherwise die on paragraph 7 of a story on page C9.... I've become more cautiously optimistic than before, and one of the challenges is finding any mention of positive data points in the headline media. Keep it up.

So who's hiring? We've started the second great depression.

Let's see. EVERYONE I know has been laid off.

I haven't had a job since I was laid off after 9/11

from Schwab and my programming job went to India.

If we're not in a recession how come EVERYWHERE

I go I see AVAILABLE and FOR LEASE on store fronts

that have NEVER been available before.

How come grocery stores are cutting the hours of their

employees. How come nobody's hiring.

This is just the beginning, it's going to get

much, much worse. There are NO JOBS - anywhere.

Blake

Pure day dreaming

you suckers import every thing from the rest of the world. Wage unnecessary wars, kill millions of iraqis and dream to get away with one percent growth.The punishment for all your atrocities is long over due. The only way to punish you is stay away from your t bills for now allowing hyperinflation to set in in your country and then crash the dollar a year from now. Then you may avoid recession but deep economic depression will haunt your country.

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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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