Man, what a slacker I am. One blog post published in the WHOLE month of July? Jesus, that sucks. Or it’s good…depending on your perspective.
I don’t know…It’s summer, it’s f*cking hot as hell, what can I say? My motivation has dropped lower than Michael Moore’s blood sugar level after not eating for 45 seconds.
And I just got back from nine days in Greece. Poor me.
Anyway…If I hear Joe Biden or his flunkie Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen say one more time we’re not in a recession, I’m gonna kick the friggin’ cat.
Heard that broad blather on recently about how two quarters of negative GDP isn’t a recession (Really? Geez, it was for the last 100 years. Would it be a recession if Trump was Prez?). She spewed that it would really need to be more of a BROAD BASED CONTRACTION, blah, blah, blah….snooooore.
Shut the f*ck up, Janet, you liar. Despite this breathtaking verbal gymnastics…she sure as shit didn’t stick the landing.
Actually, recession start dates get “officially” called – typically many months after the fact – by the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee.
Phew!…that’s a mouthful. Betcha didn’t know that.
Imagine doing shots with THOSE party animals. Or lines of coke off of their pocket protectors.
Can’t wait for those stiffs, though, to pick the EXACT friggin’ date.
So…as we KNOW…the more streamlined and historically accepted version of determining recessions is two quarters of negative GDP growth. Or more accurately referred to as “contraction.”
And we had -1.6% and -0.9% in the 1st and 2nd quarters, respectively. Or stated in pregnancy terms…two contractions one quarter apart.
Do the math, Biden…you lying corpse. Not in a recession? Complete BS, right up there with “the border’s closed,” the Afghanistan exit was a “success,” and “inflation is Putin’s fault.”
In addition to shamelessly and politically moving the goalposts on what does and doesn’t constitute a recession, these liars LOVE pointing to the supposed strong job market to throw a tsunami of cold water on the recession narrative.
Well, allow me to throw cold water on THEIR cold water…
First, the unemployment rate is a lagging indicator vis-a-vis recessions. In other words, job losses don’t really accelerate until well AFTER a recession has started. So, Biden is attempting to snooker folks by pointing to a currently low unemployment rate as “proof” we’re not in a recession.
And because we currently have about two job openings for every unemployed person…a pretty unique and unprecedented situation driven by the dynamics of a post-pandemic economy that none of us have seen in our lifetimes…what we’re likely to see is many of those “job openings” simply disappear, rather than massive, actual job losses.
So, I would expect the unemployment rate to increase, but not spike like it might historically.
The question isn’t whether we’re in a recession or not…it’s how long and deep the recession will be. And given this economic misery was primarily caused by horrible, bone-crushing progressive policies that WILL NOT BE CHANGING…I’m not optimistic.
But what do I know. I’m as much of a “real” economist as I am a “real” writer. Sort of the adult version of playing “pretend.”
Anyway…pivoting to inflation, or PUTIN’S PRICE HIKE!!! As President Poopy Pants likes to call it. Well, here’s a little factoid for ya…
When Dementia Boy took office, inflation was 1.4%. About a year later, it was 7.5% and climbing – before Vladimir Putin ever took a dump in Ukraine. Same with gas prices.
The lion’s share of our current economic Armageddon is directly caused by shit Leftist government policy – trillions in inflationary overspending, and a war on domestic fossil fuel production that spiked energy prices.
That’s right Libs. I’ll say this slowly so even dumbasses like AOC and her Silly Stupid Squad have a snowball’s chance in hell of understanding…
The effect of Putin’s actions in Ukraine on inflation and gas prices is negligible at best – despite the fiction being peddled by the Biden administration to the contrary.
See what I did there? Extra spaces between the words to simulate SLOW talking? Pretty clever, huh? Yeah, I just invented that literary technique.
And the media frauds, of course, jerk us all off with these economic lies every day. The very same media wing of the Dumbocrat party that crapped their skivvies when they thought Trump…GASP!…may have exaggerated his inauguration crowd.
OH, THE HUMANITY!!! IMPEACH!!! IMPEACH!!!
If “Progressive Advocacy” were an olympic event, these faux journalistic schmucks would be draped in layers of gold.
So yes…notwithstanding self-serving, fluid definitions, we are unequivocally in a recession. But in the end, this is nothing but an academic exercise.
Trust me…the two-thirds of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck…and are getting destroyed financially by near double digit inflation and record high gas prices bestowed on us all by the puppet of the far left Biden administration…don’t give a rat’s patootie about any of this economic mental masturbation.
So yeah…screw “recession.” To these folks, it feels like 1929.
Brother, can you spare a gallon of gas?