Is the United States Economy Heading Into a Recession?

1. Acris
   January 4th, 2008 at 9:14 pm

   I thought this fact was pretty obvious for the past few years...

2. no recess
   January 4th, 2008 at 9:23 pm

   Based on the media hammering it into us, it probably seemed inevitable...but we're still waiting and waiting and waiting for it to happen...nothing yet.

3. Don Carl
   January 4th, 2008 at 11:32 pm

   During the 2000 Presidential campaign, anytime Bush mentioned that the economy was slowing he was accused (by democrats and the Media) of "Talking Down the Economy". So, talking down the economy is NOW a good thing to do?

4. XuYu
   January 4th, 2008 at 11:33 pm

   A Bush recession? BWAHAHAHAHA Sounds like someone's Bush Deragement Syndrome is back!

5. owen
   January 4th, 2008 at 11:55 pm

   Just don't drag us down with you.
   xoxo
   Canada.

6. Jemmro Boshfeilt
   January 5th, 2008 at 12:22 am

   The unemployment rate is so high because so many younger Americans entering the work place are un-educated highschool drop outs with out proper skills. These deadbeats are going to take us all down, if it's any single group of peoples fault.

   Then there's the under trained older generation that is just simply out of touch with current technology, but they'll all be out of the picture in the next 10 years, so you can't soley blame it on them.

7. We are in some deep S#*^t
   January 5th, 2008 at 1:15 am

   Say hi to the north american union and the amero which are going to be shoved down our througths more and more we are being inslaved
   do urself a favor and go watch Endgame at google for free!!!

   U have been warned..ha ha ha

8. shecky
   January 5th, 2008 at 4:08 am

   A 5% unemployment rate ISN'T high.

   However, this doesn't mean that the housing slump, credit crunch, and pricey oil aren't taking a toll. The sudden .3% jump is worrisome.

9. neat police
   January 5th, 2008 at 5:54 am

   This is painfully not neat!

10. ted
    January 5th, 2008 at 8:16 am

    Too regionalized.

11. Tyler
    January 5th, 2008 at 8:36 am

    Wow! This is so convincing!

    I mean, there is nothing at all like a completely non-scientific poll of mostly left of center Americans (and a fair share of foreigners) to tell me that we are going to enter a recession.

    @neat police: I beg to differ, it is neat to see how much recession rhetoric people are buying into.

12. JM
    January 5th, 2008 at 9:07 am

    I was pretty sure that one major factor in determining an economic recession was the value of currency. If that is true, then we have been in recession since approximatly september 12, 2001. Whose fault? consumers and the fed. and IMF and NAFTA. and so on.... basicly, your fault and my fault too!

13. Orjans Morjan
    January 5th, 2008 at 10:08 am

    If we all just ignore all this, demand less pay and stop taking huge loans, we could survive this with a lesser recession.

14. Jim
    January 5th, 2008 at 11:11 am

    Where's the poll option for, "No, the US is already in a recession" ???

15. jurgenk
    January 5th, 2008 at 7:09 pm

    America is slowly sliding into a hyperinflatonary depression:

    http://www.financialsense.com/fsn/main.html
    http://www.dailyreckoning.com/
    http://www.goldrush21.com/
    The Dollar Crisis: Causes, Consequences, Cures, Richard Duncan

16. Thomas
    January 5th, 2008 at 7:42 pm

    Well, I personally love having my dollar worth less than the Canadian one. Not to mention the brilliant idea of printing more money to make up for the fact that we have no money. That always helps, historically.

17. Sammy
    January 5th, 2008 at 8:32 pm

    Yes, we are headed towards a recession.

    Yes, we will also be okay.

    It's all a part of the business cycle. It's happened many times before, and will undoubtedly happen again.

18. Jim
    January 5th, 2008 at 9:50 pm

    We may well be headed to a recession but yes as someone stated they are normal. I do love a previous post where Acris stated they had seen it coming for a few years. That is too funny. I see the mental giants are out and about.

19. Klingon
    January 5th, 2008 at 10:02 pm

    It won't be a recession - if anything, we're headed for a CRASH.

    That's what none of them really want to admit.

    That's why they have to keep lowering the dollar, in hopes that people around the globe would buy more American.

    But then that oil price hurts. It makes everything in America that much more expensive for Americans. It may be cheaper to buy the dollar for strong foreign currencies, but man, let's just take a look at the big picture.

    We'd be lucky if we can get past this without a major slump.

    I hope we can get past this lull without a major drop.

20. booyah
    January 5th, 2008 at 11:13 pm

    ---------Jim Says:
    I do love a previous post where Acris stated they had seen it coming for a few years. That is too funny. I see the mental giants are out and about.----------

    Hahaha....that's exactly what I was thinking too. If we end up in recession 5 years from now, do I get points if I say "I've seen it coming for the past several years!!"

    Recession is two or more consecutive quarters of negative growth. There's no indication that this will happen this year, though there are a few (just a few) warning signs. 5% unemployment is still extraordinarily low. All this speculation does no one any good. And those who make laughable statements that we are headed for a crash obviously have absolutely no knowledge of economics or history. We didn't even have a crash as a result of Sept. 11 (though the markets were hit pretty hard).

21. Adam Farrington
    January 6th, 2008 at 2:02 am

    tough times bring change.

22. Alex
    January 6th, 2008 at 6:09 am

    @booyah: "All this speculation does no one any good. And those who make laughable statements that we are headed for a crash obviously have absolutely no knowledge of economics or history."

    This feels different to me. Talking to a number of small business owners, they're ALL telling me that sales have been dismal and that a significant recession is coming.

23. drjohn
    January 6th, 2008 at 11:47 am

    This never ceases to amaze me. Firstly, to know what the real numbers are, you have to wait for the adjusted numbers, which are the refined data. That's a more realistic picture.

    Of course, when Clinton was President, an unemployment rate of 5.6% was reason for ecstasy. Unemployment rising to 5.2% from 5.0% under Bush is a harbinger of doom. By any measure used to judge the Clinton economy, the Bush economy is booming, but you'd never know it from the media and most commenters.

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