http://finance.yahoo.com/...l?x=0&.v=5

If Obama would have doubled the stimulous spending as many urged him, that figure would likely be significantly higher.

Still, best economic growth rate in 6 years.

But Gunnar, the stimulus didn't work. Right?

Umm... how can you credit stimulus money for growth in GDP, when roughly 75% of the stimulus money has not yet been spent?

Ummmm, Ricardo, economics is not your forte.

which is why I ask a procreating genus such as yourself. Enlighten us.

Read the article, Ricardo. I'll paste in a portion:

After falling off a cliff at the start of the year, gross domestic product turned higher in the third quarter, and the quickening fourth-quarter pace reported by the Commerce Department on Friday suggested a sustainable recovery was building.

"Wow, great number. It's very solid and gives us a running start into the second half of the year when we can't rely on government stimulus," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Harris Private Bank in Chicago.

"That's part of the plan, to get us moving as fast as possible so when life support is removed we'll have a pulse."



Ricardo, you're the "procreating genius" who says that government has never created a job, aren't you?

If it wasn't for the stimulus, we'd be in the middle of the second Great Depression.

Yes, I read the article. It still makes no sense that GDP is up that much and you want to credit the stimulus package when only 25% of the stimulus money has been spend. But then I given up on getting straight answers out of those who worship at the alter of Keynesian economics.

"Ricardo, you're the "procreating genius" who says that government has never created a job, aren't you?

Last time I checked unemployment was at 10% and probably higher if you count all of those people who have given up looking for work. Not sure where all the jobs they have created are, other than maybe assistants to Obamas czars. So it looks like once again, I am right.

Richard, I am the last person to defend Obama but to pretend that the high unemployment is his fault is silly...He inherited the Bush mess and is trying to deal with it...an almost herculean task IMO...Bush will probably go down in history as one of the worst presidents ever...Some of the things that Obama has done isn't to my satisfaction but he certainly didn't create this mess that we are in now...so stop being so silly... I just hope that the Obama administration can get on with the liberal agenda that he promised his supporters and stop trying to appease the right wing...

Ricardo, repeat after me:

In a recovery, employment is often a lagging indicator.

Richard,

I got a job here in Butte due to the stimulus funding, I work for the department of Labor for the State of Montana.

Bob L.,

I didn't know you were a taxonomic unit used in the classification of living and fossil organisms! Lucky dog.

Wendy: Nice work.

Interesting.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/n..._economy_8

Economy likely grew 4.6 percent in 4th quarter

By Lucia Mutikani - Fri Jan 29, 12:09 am ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy likely grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in the fourth quarter as businesses made less-aggressive cutbacks on inventories, a government report is expected to show on Friday.

A Reuters survey predicted that gross domestic product, which measures total goods and services output within U.S. borders, expanded at a 4.6 percent annual rate, up from 2.2 percent in the third quarter.

Analysts reckon the change in inventories could constitute as much as three-quarters of the GDP figure and overstate the strength of the recovery from the longest and deepest downturn since the Great Depression 70 years ago.

"We shouldn't dismiss it (GDP number), but the problem is the inventory cycle really doesn't last that long. It's not what we call self-sustaining growth," said Paul Ashworth, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto.

Getting the economy on a sustainable growth track remains one of the key challenges facing President Barack Obama, who on Wednesday outlined a raft of measures to create jobs and nurture the recovery.
The pace of inventory liquidation likely slowed in the fourth quarter, and some analysts believe inventories might even have been flat. Business inventories fell $139.2 billion in the July-September period after plunging by a record $160.2 billion in the second quarter.

However, not everyone agrees the economic lift from the change in the inventory cycle will be short-lived. Dean Maki, chief economist at Barclays Capital in New York, reckons the boost could act as a catalyst for sustained growth.

"We believe the gain in GDP will prove more than a fleeting inventory-induced pop. Rather, we expect the normalization in inventories to spark a greater need for production and a sustained economic recovery," said Maki.

Final sales of domestic product, which exclude inventories, are expected to rise at a 1.6 percent annual pace after increasing 1.5 percent in the third quarter. Final sales are a good indicator of future GDP growth trends.

Consumer spending is expected to have risen in the last three months of 2009, but below the 2.8 percent annual pace in the prior quarter, when consumption got a boost from the government's "cash for clunkers" program.

Spending has been hamstrung by the worst labor market in a quarter century. Analysts noted that during periods of strong economic growth, consumer spending was rising at an average of 4 percent a year.

"If you are looking for a strong and sustainable recovery, it's hard to see that happening unless consumption accelerates," said Capital Economics' Ashworth. Residential investment was expected to make a smaller contribution to overall output in the fourth quarter.

Home building received a lift from a popular tax credit for first-time buyers, but recent data has hinted at weakness returning to the sector.

Business investment likely fell again in the fourth quarter, held back by struggling commercial real estate, which has been pressured by high vacancy rates and tight access to credit. At the same time, analysts expect gains in capital equipment and machinery, which could portend an increase in output in coming months.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Dan Grebler)

[This message has been edited by Richard Bonine, Jr (2/1/2010)]

Nice cut and paste, Ricardo!

So, why would it be that businesses aren't cutting inventory as much?

Hmmmmmmm.



And, why are you rooting against an economic recovery? You hate America, don't you?

[This message has been edited by Bob L. (2/1/2010)]