Democrats bragging about economic recovery

[HYHYBT]

How does basing whether the economy as a whole has recovered or not on the availability of jobs in one single line of work even remotely qualify as "100% accurate?"

(But thank you; I think of Craigslist as being for buying and selling stuff too junky to put on eBay or for online prostitution; I didn't realize they did job listings as well. That may come in handy, though since I'm also hoping for an entry-level accounting job, your description doesn't give much hope.)

[mikoyan29]

I think the economy is getting better but it remains to be seen if that will translate to better housing prices or lower unemployment. For the near future, companies are going to try to make do with their existing workforce I think (although my company is hiring).

Part of the problem with housing prices is that they were rising faster than median incomes were. Eventually, they reached a point where normal people couldn't afford them...so guess what happens then. And given all the shenanigans in finance, they were based on false things anyway.

So we'll see.

[smileyeagle1021]

Part of the problem with housing prices is that they were rising faster than median incomes were. Eventually, they reached a point where normal people couldn't afford them...so guess what happens then. And given all the shenanigans in finance, they were based on false things anyway.

This is exactly why we should pray that for the forseable future that house prices don't recover. They were artificially inflated by Fed policies that rewarded banks for making riskier and riskier loans, flooding the market with a lot more buyers than there should have been, artificially increasing demand. If the housing prices were to get back up to where they were in the near future all that would happen is another collapse.

And HYHYBT, as far as how the employment in one sector can be an indicator of employment and recovery overall, yes, it is extremely accurate when it is the sector that keeps track of all the other sector's money... if they aren't making it, then they don't need anyone to keep track of it. And on a more selfish note, if you are a politician trying to win my vote by telling me how much better off we are today than yesterday, then I better damned well be part of that "we" if you want me to vote for you.

[mikoyan29]

I don't think the Fed had to do much to twist the bank's arms into making those loans as long as there was the underwriting that was going on. Of course in doing that underwriting, either noone asked or cared to ask the question, "What if housing prices go down?". The underwriters figured that as long there was the house, they would at least get most of their money back (and possibly turn a profit as they sold the foreclosed house).

And quite frankly, I'm coming to the conclusion that politicians have less to do with the economy than they would have us believe. Everything still seems to be recovering despite the best efforts of people to kill that.

[s_stabeler]

I've suspected for a bit that the media are trying to keep the economy in the doldrums, at least in the UK. Look at the latest Budget- it cut taxes for both low-earners and the "squeezed middle", increased spending on infrastructure, which is what people have been saying the country needs, basically, almost everyone got something. What's the media's reaction? concentrate on the fact that Osborne has admitted growth will be 0.6% this year, not 1.2%. Considering that borrowing is apparently going to be unchanged from last year, that's pretty good if you think about it. But to the media, the sky is falling. I wonder if it has anything to do with the new press regulations being introduced. (basically the only change is that the regulator can actually issue punishments other than a slap on the wrist. Oh, and if I remember what i read, shock horror retractions actually have to be printed where people are actually likely to read them)

[Gravekeeper]

I've suspected for a bit that the media are trying to keep the economy in the doldrums, at least in the UK.

Well, the GOP certainly is in the US. I can't really blame the Democrats for bragging a little about the economy considering the opposition's game plan has been to essentially destroy the country in any way possible so they can blame the other side for it. If they can't have the country, no one can.