Do you all remember The Religious Policeman who quit blogging in 2006 but came up with the color coded Muslim Offense Level?
Today – as we begin Bush’s last year in office, Small Dead Animals’ post headline reminded me of this color coding system. As he suggests, we’re on High Alert, or
Seven Year American Recession Watch Remains On High Alert
To help us remember, we’ll use Orange (High Alert) as the color.
This editorial in the NYTimes is concerned about a 3.6% increase in spending this year (but reminding readers that part of that spending was in gas and food.
Which may or may not have something to do with fewer people on airplanes as 1)airlines get more uncomfortable and crowed and b) airlines cancel flights toward the end of the year because of bad weather and crew crankiness leading to no crew for flights and c) people just want to stay home at the holidays as we (baby boomers) get older and less prone to travel about for recreation)
All of that portends economic pain for families, even if growth, over all, does not contract — the general definition of a recession. That’s because even optimistic growth forecasts — about 1.5 percent for this quarter and next — are too tepid to counter recessionlike conditions in which job growth slows, unemployment rises and paychecks shrink or disappear. If inflation continues, rising prices will only feed the pain.
Worry away folks and don’t think about the 22% increase in online sales this year. They don’t count. Apparently.
