Is the recession over? Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal say yes, and they suggest that's a big reason why Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke should stay.
The Journal reports that the experts are overwhelmingly in favor of President Obama asking Bernanke to stay on for another four-year term when his current term ends Jan. 31. Bernanke has been a key figure in the government's efforts to reverse the country's economic meltdown, a role that has earned him some criticism but also praise for handling of the crisis.
Economists date the start of the recession to December 2007 -- defining much of Bernanke's term, which started in early 2006 -- and a majority agree that the recession is coming to an end.
Bernanke "deserves a lot of credit for stabilizing the financial markets," Joseph Carson of AllianceBernstein told the Journal.
Obama said last week that the "worst may be behind us," and the Labor Department on Tuesday seemed to bolster that notion, reporting that productivity surged in the spring by the largest amount in almost six years while labor costs plunged at the fastest pace in nine years.
Productivity is a key ingredient for rising living standards because it means that companies can pay their workers more with the wage increases financed by rising output.
However, in the current recession, companies have been using the productivity gains to bolster their bottom lines in the face of declining sales. Many companies have been reporting second-quarter earnings results that have beaten expectations despite falling sales, due largely to their aggressive cost cutting.
Many economists believe the current recession is on the verge of ending. If the economy starts to grow in the second half of this year, companies are expected to switch from layoffs and trimming workers' hours to boosting employment as demand for their products increases. - FOX News Story
As more and more good news comes out about the economy, Doubt Not that Obama will be front and center taking credit for saving us all from that Evil Doer George W. Bush. But is he really the Savior that he and his supporters will make him out to be.
The economy couldn't turn around on a dime, and it certainly wasn't the acts of Obama that has moved us into ending the recession. He and his Administration have admitted as such when they told all of us that the Stimulus Spending would not be felt until the end of the year and into next year, for him to claim it's role in saving the economy would be total nonsense at this point.
The bigger question is will the Economy continue it's climb out in spite of Obama and the Massive Debt that he and the Democrats are compiling?
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