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PrintAugust 28, 2008
'Rebound' Replaces 'Recession' In MSM Headlines
Well surprise, surprise. Get a load of this
"The Commerce Department reported Thursday that gross domestic product, or GDP, increased at a 3.3 percent annual rate in the April-June quarter. The revised reading was much better than the government's initial estimate of a 1.9 percent pace and exceeded economists' expectations for a 2.7 percent growth rate."
By contrast, here are some samples of how the previous estimate of 1.9% was reported.
"Recession worries linger as GDP rises a scant 1.9%." USA Today http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2008-07-31-gdp-jobless_N.htm
"Recent growth is boosted by stimulus checks, but still lags forecasts. Last quarter of '07 is revised down - first negative period since 2001 recession." CNN http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/31/news/economy/gdp/index.htm?postversion=2008073109
"U.S. GDP falls short of expectations, UPI Business News" http://www.upi.com/Business_News/2008/07/31/US_GDP_falls_short_of_expectations/UPI-93521217523916/"The nation's economy grew at a tepid 1.9% annual rate in the second quarter of the year... below Wall Street economist expectations." Fox Business News http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/economy/gdp-grew--rate-second-quarter/
"Recession... negative... recession... falls short... tepid... below expectations." You get the picture. Even from Fox. Thank you, media, for writing the script to the Democrats' campaign speeches. It's just too bad the "rebound" became clear more than two months before the election. That must irritate.
You can find the Commerce Department's press release on the latest figures here . If you dig some, you'll find that real GDP growth from the second quarter of 2007 to the second quarter of 2008 (latest available) was 2.2%. That, my friends, is no recession.
Real GDP growth in the last five quarters were 4.8, 4.8, -0.2, 0.9, and 3.3 percent, respectively. Funny, I don't remember the headlines about the two 4.8's in a row. But that -0.2 was getting "recession" played throughout the headlines for about the last six months.
The surge working in Iraq. Economy on the rebound (from its non-recession). What's a Democrat to do?
Update: "Jobless claims fall for 3rd straight week"
