Do you agree with this NPR article that says that the economic downturn is coming to an end?

I’ll believe it when I see it. The job market in the US is down more than it has been in 26 years.

I am not as optimistic as those projections on the time frame.

Not here in California.

I think it’s like trying to turn a battleship; it has to slow down before it can turn around. A lot of what we’re seeing is the result of a decade or more of living by the skin of our teeth. It won’t fix in the blink of an eye.

I pretty much agree with the article. I think we are seeing a bottom but it is going to slow growth for a long time.

Yes I completely agree with it and I hope that the people who have money to invest and spend stop looking to this “downturn” as a reason to capitalize further on desperation. We need to keep the economy going by spending and investing. It’s like a river that has to flow. The economy is turning and we can hasten it by not feeding this sentiment and encouraging a positive attitude. The biggest indicator of economic viability is a positive attitude and pride among its populace.

Yes, I do.

I’ve heard that 70% of the economy comes from consumer spending. The more people that spend money without living beyond their means the better off we will be. I am fortunate that my employer had a record sales year, and expects the same next year. Some folks weren’t so lucky.

Wow, the commenters on that page all think the economists are full of shit. Interesting.

I absolutely disbelieve the 9.5 percent number, they’ve been reporting it below 10 percent for a while now to avoid meeting the official
criteria for a depression.

The dubious information I’m looking at, FWIW, predicts a full on crash in the fall.

Without a complete change in the political climate in this country this country will continue to have a negative growth rate. The governments war on wealth is continuing and there are no indications that it will stop soon. Don’t look at the economy look at what the government is doing. Its power of destruction is greater than the economy’s power of creation.

@kevbo :: the number that gets reported is the U3 which only counts folks that have looked for work in the last four weeks and have a telephone. The U6 is a better metric. The U6 is around 17 percent.

@evelyns_pet_zebra You do know that such a number is impossible. Consuming can not be greater than production on a continuing basis. If it is then eventually all wealth is consumed and production stops.
You can’t consume more than is made.

@walterallenhaxton :: is this satire?

“The governments war on wealth”

Why would there be a war on wealth?

No. Not as long as we are still losing jobs. The real unemployment rate is much higher than the numbers show. When people start daring to change jobs voluntarily again, qualified young graduates start getting replies to their applications, and the chill of fear goes out of the workplace, then I’ll believe it.

@walterallenhaxton Because a politicians power and personal wealth is more important to him than other peoples wealth. He is the predator and we are the prey. He has a million excuses for what he does and many of them he might actually believe.
When I say politician i am talking about an archetypal politician. Not any particular one.

There is another wave of Real Estate foreclosures on the horizon. The first was the group that had no business buying a house in the first place and the second will be the people who a bit more responsible but who will walk away because their mortgage is just way more than the value. They have weathered it this long, hoping for a “bail out,” but are now ready to throw in the towel.

I say start a business. Think outside the box. Be creative and be your own source and stop waiting for a bail out.

Economic downturn is coming to an end?
Everyone needs to to smarten up. It is not a downturn. It is a change as to how our society is going to operate.
We will never again see the prosperity that our parents have experienced.
We will be owned and controlled by the banking institution. As we can already see.
Obama sold us out, instead of bailing us out. Giving us one more chance to find a way out of this mess. But then again, that was the plan all along. This “downturn” has been in play for over 25 years.
It snuck up and bit us on the ass. Get use to it. You have been played and there is nothing you can do about it now.

There is no economic downturn.