Post by propagandist on Sept 12, 2013 18:24:40 GMT -7
Here's Who's To Blame For America's Zombie Economy
U.S. economic growth for the second quarter was 1.7 percent.
That's better than expected, but only because the expectations were so low. In absolute terms, for an economy in mid-recovery, 1.7 percent is a lousy growth rate. And growth in the first quarter was revised down to a pathetic 1 percent.
If you turn on the TV today, you'll see a parade of our elected representatives blaming each other for this.
You can mostly ignore them.
If you're curious who is actually responsible for our crappy economy, just look at the following charts.
But, first, a basic economic equation. Ignoring imports and exports (for simplicity), the size of our economy is the sum of the following parts:
PERSONAL CONSUMPTION (Consumer Spending)
+
PRIVATE INVESTMENT (Business Investment)
+
GOVERNMENT SPENDING
Right now, those three buckets of spending are adding up to a meh GDP number.
So which one is to blame? ...
That's better than expected, but only because the expectations were so low. In absolute terms, for an economy in mid-recovery, 1.7 percent is a lousy growth rate. And growth in the first quarter was revised down to a pathetic 1 percent.
If you turn on the TV today, you'll see a parade of our elected representatives blaming each other for this.
You can mostly ignore them.
If you're curious who is actually responsible for our crappy economy, just look at the following charts.
But, first, a basic economic equation. Ignoring imports and exports (for simplicity), the size of our economy is the sum of the following parts:
PERSONAL CONSUMPTION (Consumer Spending)
+
PRIVATE INVESTMENT (Business Investment)
+
GOVERNMENT SPENDING
Right now, those three buckets of spending are adding up to a meh GDP number.
So which one is to blame? ...
See:
3 biggest lies why corporate taxes should be lowered
www.salon.com/2013/08/05/3_biggest_lies_why_corporate_taxes_should_be_lowered_partner/
especially #2:
Lie #2: U.S. corporations need lower taxes in order to make investments in new jobs. Wrong again. Corporations are sitting on almost $2 trillion of cash they don’t know what to do with. The 1000 largest U.S. corporations alone are hoarding almost $1 trillion.
Rather than investing in expansion, they’re buying back their own stocks or raising dividends. They have no economic incentive to expand unless or until consumers want to buy more, but consumer spending is pinched because the middle class keeps shrinking and the median wage, adjusted for inflation, keeps dropping.
Rather than investing in expansion, they’re buying back their own stocks or raising dividends. They have no economic incentive to expand unless or until consumers want to buy more, but consumer spending is pinched because the middle class keeps shrinking and the median wage, adjusted for inflation, keeps dropping.