So Where’s that Recession Again?
If you’ve been paying attention to the speeches this week at the DNC, you’d think the economy is in the dumper.
The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product, or GDP, increased at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. The revised reading was much better than the government’s initial estimate of a 1.9 percent pace and exceeded economists’ expectations for a 2.7 percent growth rate.
I’ve seen a recession. This ain’t a recession and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you something. I think a little Jay Nordlinger is in order.
One thing I’ve noticed about this convention — it’s impossible not to — is that America is portrayed as a deeply suffering place. It’s a Grapes of Wrath nation, plagued with injustice, want, and desperation. We are one big lousy dust bowl.
Needless to say, economic problems have not been eliminated in America (along with other problems). Man still lives here. But this is a very prosperous, comfortable nation — one of the envies of the world (which is why so many seek to come here). Complacency is inadvisable; we should always strive to do better. But a little perspective, please.
Most children in Haiti eat cookies made from mud, salt, and vegetable shortening once a day as a meal. Did your kids eat a mud cookie today? No?
Then stop your whining. Things are hardly as bad as today’s Democrats say they are. Indeed, some of us are in a tight spot. But even the poor among us have two televisions, a car, central heating and air-conditioning, a microwave oven, and luxuries that the middle class of many nations would kill to have. Democrats need to take Jay’s advice and get some perspective.
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Category: The Economy and Your Money
