Obama needs to come back from vacation now.

[Anonymous]

> absymal (sic) failure of keeping his campaign promises

What?????? Like HCR? Like bank reform? Like the stimulus, which the republicans keep bashing (when they are not back in their districts taking credit for the jobs it created). I'm SO tired of folks who think if they say this stuff enough it becomes true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:> absymal (sic) failure of keeping his campaign promises

What?????? Like HCR? Like bank reform? Like the stimulus, which the republicans keep bashing (when they are not back in their districts taking credit for the jobs it created). I'm SO tired of folks who think if they say this stuff enough it becomes true.

Just for you: abysmal. Happy now. No, I don't think if I keep saying the economy is good that it will become true, at least not with Obama's economic advisors.
Stop with the Republicans against Democrats--the problem affects every single one of us. I want him to succeed but his programs are not working. Some economists have predicted a double-digit recession. What is the President doing to avoid this catastrophe?

[Anonymous]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704147804575455823740024224.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop


To no one's surprise except perhaps Vice President Joe Biden's, second quarter economic growth was revised down yesterday to 1.6% from the prior estimate of 2.4%, which was down from first quarter growth of 3.7%, which was down from the 2009 fourth quarter's 5%. Economic recoveries are supposed to go in the other direction.

The downward revision was anticipated given the poor early economic reports for the third quarter, including a plunge in new home sales, mediocre manufacturing data, volatile jobless claims and even (after a healthy period) weaker corporate profits. Many economists fear that third quarter growth could be ...

[Anonymous]

http://politics.usnews.com/opinion/mzuckerman/articles/2010/08/26/the-most-fiscally-irresponsible-government-in-us-history.html

maybe it would be better if obama stays on vacation

[Anonymous]

Correct me if I'm wrong (which is quite likely, considering how many others have been wrong). Krugman and other leftish economists said early on that we would likely have problems like this because the stimulus was not bold enough and was misdirected. Folks on the right said we should take the short-term pain of letting the economy right itself rather than put our kids and grandkids into hock. Obama and his advisors say that if they did not do everything exactly right, it was largely the fault of Republican recalcitrance, and in any case things are much better than they would have been if we had not acted.

So we have three analyses that can't be checked because we can't go back and compare alternate choices. As in the abortion debate, we each base our assessment on our faith system, thinking we are the ones who see reality as it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong (which is quite likely, considering how many others have been wrong). Krugman and other leftish economists said early on that we would likely have problems like this because the stimulus was not bold enough and was misdirected. Folks on the right said we should take the short-term pain of letting the economy right itself rather than put our kids and grandkids into hock. Obama and his advisors say that if they did not do everything exactly right, it was largely the fault of Republican recalcitrance, and in any case things are much better than they would have been if we had not acted.

So we have three analyses that can't be checked because we can't go back and compare alternate choices. As in the abortion debate, we each base our assessment on our faith system, thinking we are the ones who see reality as it is.

I had a teacher who once told me, "When you don't know what to do, do nothing." Maybe that is what should have happened because everything done was short-sighted. No thought was give to the long-run, which is now, two years later, and the economy sucks like a leech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had a teacher who once told me, "When you don't know what to do, do nothing." Maybe that is what should have happened because everything done was short-sighted. No thought was give to the long-run, which is now, two years later, and the economy sucks like a leech.

A generalization that has some truth to it, but is certainly not the right choice for all occasions. In particular, I think it would have been totally irresponsible for the President to have taken no action. Whatever lack of confidence people now have because he did not find a solution is nothing compared to the outcry that would have arisen if he had sat around and watched economic disaster happen without taking action of some sort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Correct me if I'm wrong (which is quite likely, considering how many others have been wrong). Krugman and other leftish economists said early on that we would likely have problems like this because the stimulus was not bold enough and was misdirected. Folks on the right said we should take the short-term pain of letting the economy right itself rather than put our kids and grandkids into hock. Obama and his advisors say that if they did not do everything exactly right, it was largely the fault of Republican recalcitrance, and in any case things are much better than they would have been if we had not acted.

So we have three analyses that can't be checked because we can't go back and compare alternate choices. As in the abortion debate, we each base our assessment on our faith system, thinking we are the ones who see reality as it is.

I had a teacher who once told me, "When you don't know what to do, do nothing." Maybe that is what should have happened because everything done was short-sighted. No thought was give to the long-run, which is now, two years later, and the economy sucks like a leech.

Both in business and politics, executives are forced to make decisions with limited, or conflicting information and with little time to sit and analyze. And they have to do this day in and day out. An executive who has to wait to be sure would not survive in either world. I think your teacher was being, well, academic.

[Anonymous]

BTW two years isn't even close to the long run. People have very little patience, but issues of national debt play out over a decade or more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BTW two years isn't even close to the long run. People have very little patience, but issues of national debt play out over a decade or more.

People who have been out of work for two years or longer think "long-run."

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately it is not. I feel for them and know some of them. But the timetable of an economy is not set by politicians or citizens.

[Anonymous]

NEW YORK — Stocks jumped Wednesday after surprisingly strong growth in U.S. and Chinese manufacturing allayed some of the worries that had been building over the global economy in recent weeks.
The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 250 points on the first day of September. Broader indexes also rose more than 2.5 percent. With investors pouring into stocks, Treasury prices fell and interest rates rose.

So has everything changed since OP's post?

Or should we recognize that there are going to be lots of ups and downs in monthly economic statistics, and instead start focusing on long term trends?

[Anonymous]

Unfortunately, as far as partisan politics goes, it would have been better for Democrats if Bush had had a third term, or if McCain had won. Bush essentially shit the bed, then retired to Crawford. Whoever was handed the mop and bucket was in for a long fucking pounding.

The fact that most Americans have the attention span of a flea, and not the barest of understanding of economics just reinforces the effect.