US Has Been In Recession Since December 2007

The National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday that the US has been in a recession since December 2007. The NBER is a private, nonprofit research organization of academic economists who determine business cycles. The stock market took a dip on the news that reached double-digit percentages for some tech stocks.

Comments

Re:Really ?

[TehZorroness]

It'll take another couple of years for these words to bounce around inside his aging and balding head. Once it settles, he'll sit there for another couple days and then be like... "ohh... really?" and make himself look like an old tool who shourd return to the old people's home.

dont take this completely serious. I have respect for mccain, it's just fun to make fun of old people - this is slashdot after all.

Re:A few thoughts

[bsDaemon]

(half my retirement funds are now gone)

Incorrect. You haven't actually lost anything until you decide to sell at the lower value. The market will come back, it always does. You just have to remember that investing is for the long haul ("day traders" are responsible for all the major flux in the markets, and at all times. they should be put to the wall).

Misunderstanding "recession"

[macraig]

I don't think you really grasp the true cause of a recession; it's not what you nor most economists seem to think... or at least are willing to admit publicly. Here's the dirty little Darwinian secret about the origin of recessions:

Recessions are caused by a reduction in the ability of the ruling economic class - the wealthy - to concentrate wealth at a rate that satisfies their greed.

When this happens they turn around and share the lack of wealth, by "trickling down" their displeasure in the form of job layoffs, etc., taking advantage of the dependencies they created in the process of becoming wealthy to make the rest of the general population suffer.

The sad thing is that a recession actually signals that the general citizenry has actually begun to learn how to limit the tactics of the rich; it's a win for the average consumer... or at least it would be if said average consumer didn't have a job that depended upon the wealthy, putting them in a position of dependence. (Think we don't still have a "barony" of the sort that American forefathers were supposedly trying to escape? Think again.)

The wealthy then retaliate against this victory by using that trickle-down effect that Reagan thought was so great to make the general population feel their pain, too.

A recession is in no way a loss of productivity or general faith in productivity and the "economy"; people don't actually stop being productive. That's bullshit fed to us by the wealthy, via mis-educated "economists" who don't actually have a clue (because they were very deliberately mis-educated to serve the interests of the wealthy).

The effect of a recession is to teach the general population a lesson, put a (temporary) end to their little economic victory and return control back to the grabby grubby greedy little hands of the wealthy. In effect a recession is the wealthy saying, "If we can't have our cake and eat it too, then by God none of the rest of you will, either!"

What do you think that "economic stimulus package" was all about? What is the real purpose of the "bailout"? That stimulus package was really intended to benefit the wealthy, not you nor I (I actually refused it), by encouraging people to once again spend-spend-spend and put profit back in the hands of the wealthy.

Since a recession is actually about loss of control by the wealthy, why the fuck would we want to give it back to them? Why don't we suck it up and finish the job we unknowingly started: kicking the money-changers out of the temple? Don't END the recession... DEEPEN it.

Re:A few thoughts

[Sebastopol]

How long do you have to hear things are terrible before you believe they are, and start making changes in your own life?

Lemme get this straight: your thesis is that if you say something enough, it becomes reality?

You sound like a republican to me.

So assuming I'm a die-hard Republican because I'm saying something you likely disagree with isn't going to work.

Oh the irony.

Re:Derivatives and Naked Shorting, not Subprime

[spun]

So, the victims are to blame, not the con artists? Where do you, personally, draw the line? If you get shot, is that your fault for walking in the wrong neighborhood? If a drunk driver hits you, is it your fault for not looking both ways crossing the street?

Given that home prices were rising, isn't the con plausible? What is there to research? The banker, who you THINK has a vested interest in you paying off your loan (he doesn't, because he's reselling it to some other sucker) is telling you it will all work out. Sounds great, right? I mean, why would he lie to you? Maybe YOU understood all this before the crash (hindsight is perfect, eh?) but most people are not educated in finance, so they just have to trust that the person offering them a loan is not lying.

This is just more blaming the victims. I find it reprehensible.