Re: "Economically we are recovering. Bush's tax cuts are having a positive effect, and our businesses are increasing productivity at an astounding rate."
You must be obtaining your financial information from newsmax.crap as well.
Story in this weekend's online Wall Street Journal says second-half economic recovery doubtful. Much of the so-called "growth" over the past 12 months has been obtained through smoke, mirrors and fuzzy accounting.
From the story:
"... Companies can only slash costs so much, and sales aren't improving a great deal. According to Mr. Paulsen, nominal GDP, or the value of goods and services produced in the U.S. measured in current prices, rose just 2.8% in the last year -- that's near a 40-year low, he says.
These weak sales figures come despite a 5.6% surge in first-quarter gross domestic product. More than half the growth came from businesses increasing production because they emptied warehouses and cut inventories so much last year, something that's only a temporary boost to the economy. Continued strength depends on more capital spending, and that fell at a 5.7% rate in the first quarter.
Economists anticipate that growth will slow from the first quarter's pace, making sales gains even tougher to forecast.
"Until you can accelerate that top line, it's going to be hard to believe the bottom line is sustainable, unless you believe we can cost-cut ourselves to prosperity," Mr. Paulsen said. |
