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Little more than a year ago, financial markets were in turmoil, major auto companies were on the verge of collapse and economists such as Paul Krugman were worried about the U.S. slumbering through a Japan-like Lost Decade. While no one would claim that all the pain is past or the danger gone, the economy is growing again, jumping to a 5.6% annualized growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2009 as businesses finally restocked their inventories. The consensus view now calls for 3% growth this year, significantly higher than the 2.1 % estimate for 2010 that economists surveyed by Bloomberg News saw coming when Obama first moved into the Oval Office. The U.S. manufacturing sector has expanded for eight straight months, the Business Roundtable's measure of CEO optimism reached its highest level since early 2006, and in March the economy added 162,000 jobs—more than it had during any month in the past three years. "There is more business confidence out there," says Boeing (BA) CEO Jim McNerney. "This Administration deserves significant credit."
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Good article. And it's in Businessweek, so the political braying is at a minimum.
Seriously. I give Obama and his team a lot of credit for forging ahead with unpopular decisions that they knew were the right ones. Time is proving their decisions to be correct far faster than anyone expected.
I find it particularly entertaining to watch the accolades start flowing when small percentage increases are touted as if they weren't starting from rock bottom. It's like having a penny invested in the stock market and celebrating a 100% return. The return is awesome, but at the end of the day you still only have two pennies.
I'm a realist. This economy is not on solid ground. There are way too many shaky variables, namely unemployment, corporate real estate foreclosures, and number of homes underwater that bring me back down to earth when I start to feel good about a measly 1.6% increase in consumer spending, etc.
From what I can see, it will be anywhere between 2012 and 2015
Things in D.C. flow as slow as honey on a cool winter day ..
What D.C. does today, usually isn't truly felt by the general public (the nation at large) until roughly 5 years down the road.
We won't be seeing the full effect of Obama policy for a few years yet .. yawn .. roll over .. wake me when they stick a fork in it.
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good
