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5/5/10

Economic recovery: Fact or fiction? - Bill Bonner

Up, down, up, down – suddenly, the stock market seems nervous. Maybe it is beginning to realize that the recovery story is a lie…a fake-out…

We have a feeling that the present volatility is going to be resolved by a decisive move to the downside. So, we’ll keep our ‘Crash Alert’ flag up the pole for a bit longer. In the meantime, unemployment benefits have been extended three times. Now, they’re going to expire with some 15 million people out of work. The first-time house-buyer credit has expired too. And the feds have already shot off their monetary and fiscal ammunition… They’ve already used more stimulus than any time government ever used.

And what did we get for it? After $8 trillion worth of banking and financial guarantees…plus deficits greater than any the country has seen since WWII… But wait. The government keeps track of these things, doesn’t it? And it reported on Friday that the US GDP grew at an annual rate of 3.2% during the first quarter.

Well, well, well…guess that settles it. We are wrong again. Recession is over. Break out the champagne. That makes three quarters in a row with positive GDP growth. But hold on… The GDP number is just another one of the lies that bind investors and consumers to bad ideas and keep them coming back to bad habits.


For more: Economic recovery: Fact or fiction? - CSMonitor.com

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