Discussion: Economy Shrank At Steep 2.9 Percent Last Quarter

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Discussion for article #224325

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Two-thirds of the downward revision reflected a decline in health care spending.

Yes, that’s certainly a catastrophe. The market will probably plummet in response.

This is what’s wrong with a lot of the measures of economic “health.”

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It’s just a tactic to divert attention from Benghazi. Obama is damn good at this don’t ya know!

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Heh. The administration was only off by a negative 2.8 percent. That’s going to make it very difficult to reach a 4 percent growth in Q2, but I’m sure our “leaders” know a way to cook the books to accomplish that. Enough with all of this socialist talk from the right. What we need is full-on communism! Where’s Bernie Sanders when we need him?

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“Two-thirds of the downward revision reflected a decline in health care spending.”

This reminds me of Robert Kennedy’s famous line about the problem with using GDP to measure progress.

If Americans are getting more health care at lower total cost, that’s going to look like a recession in the aggregate numbers.

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Since our “leaders” didn’t know of a way to cook the books for first quarter growth, I wouldn’t expect anything different for Q2.

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Business community : when are you going to wake up and realize the best path for economic growth is the Democratic one?

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Economic growth or an eco-system with a climate we can survive in and an ocean that we need for life on this planet. We can’t have both. With a population of 7 billion and a dying ocean, economic growth spells doom. Growth is impossible when we have raped all the earth’s resources and are now drilling deep in the oceans and fracking and digging shale oil to keep our growth going as the earth becomes unlivable for the human species. That is scientific reality. we need a new economic system that respects the earth. Growth is our death knell.

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You need to go back and refresh yourself on the lessons of the Rio Sustainability Conference.

Environmental progress requires economic progress. Poor societies can’t afford environmentalism.

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I thought the last 5 yrs has been The Democrat way . If this is it, i hate to see what it would look like with FULL RECOVERY.

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‘‘A new economic system that respects the earth’’ What we start living in trees and use one piece of toilet like Ms. Crow said a few yrs. ago.

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The economy has been doing rather well considering what the previous administration left us with. We had a bad quarter, those happen. If a trend begins to develop, then maybe we can start to worry. But your argument is disingenuous.

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His/her argument is trollish.

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I guess you have not been paying close attention??? Stop looking at the stock market please. And look at the economy as a whole. They are jumping for joy today because the service sector is hiring. That’s big time LOW paying jobs. Where are the GOOD paying jobs. Like 25.00 to 30.00 a hr.These are only 10.00 to 13.00 a hr.

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A big part of the spike in lower wage jobs is a direct result of the Great Recession, and other external factors. You’re right that it’s definitely a growing dilemma, but your argument that it’s the “Democrat way” is an oversimplification of a more complex set of events and just looks like the usual TPM troll methodology of using any shred of bad news from anywhere to smear the other side.

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Smear the other side. Facts speak for themselves.

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“Remember back in the '80s when only black people were mad?”

  • Dave Chappelle
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This is actually not bad news. Sure Republicans will be saying Obamacare and Bengahzi shrunk GDP, but the reality-based community knows that’s not what happened.

Lower health care costs is welcome news for everyone, even for those who refuse to admit it.

Besides, this is probably more of the market readjusting itself from the bubble it’s been in than anything else. Especially since 2nd quarter growth is looking really strong.

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Obama’s bad news is actually an economic windfall compared to the Republicans record.
And, it’s real, which is why it has some downers as it improves. The trend is the key and being light years ahead of where the Bushies had put us is the lock.

No more Repub administrations is the all important factor to recovery. They are slowing things down while out of power but can’t impose their world wrecking will on all of us as long as they are the minority.

Obama is thrashing them and I freaking love it.

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  • 3.7% growth is a windfall . I think this is the first time its gone down this much in the last 59 yrs. And you say is a windfall compared to the Republicans. WOW!! you people will say anything to help this man[Obama]out.