I want to revisit today's government report that the US economy grew at an annual rate of 0.1% during the first quarter of 2014 particularly in view of the statements made by the White House following that release.
First of all, think about what a 0.1% annual growth rate actually means. That figure is computed by comparing the GDP for the fourth quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014 and then multiplying the result by four to get an annualized change. In other words, the difference between the GDP in the last quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014 was roughly .025%. From a statistical standpoint, that result is the same as saying that there was no growth during the quarter. After all, for each one thousand dollars of production in the fourth quarter, there was supposedly an extra 25 cents worth of production in the first quarter of this year. The government just cannot measure these things so finely.
Second, the Obama White House was quick to argue that winter weather was to blame for the bad numbers. Jay Carney, the White House Liar, excuse me, the White House spokesman said that economists estimate that one percent of GDP was lost to bad weather. Let's assume that Carney is both telling the truth and that the economists are correct. I realize that it is a big assumption to ever believe that Carney is telling the truth, but let's try it this time. That would make the annual growth rate of the American economy 1.1% during the first quarter. That means that had there been no bad weather, the USA still would have had the second worst quarter of the last five years on this score. It means that even without the bad weather, America would be on the edge of another recession. It means that even without the bad weather, our economy would be failing to grow, failing to create jobs, failing to provide hope for the poor, and generally just failing.
Third, the response by president Obama to today's figures has been his usual response to bad news: Obama has ignored the bad news and tried to change the subject. Obama actually made a statement today about the economy, but his focus was the failure of the Democrat controlled Senate to pass a bill to raise the federal minimum wage. There are countless things that Obama could easily do to increase economic growth and jobs, but instead, he is focused on the minimum wage.
First of all, think about what a 0.1% annual growth rate actually means. That figure is computed by comparing the GDP for the fourth quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014 and then multiplying the result by four to get an annualized change. In other words, the difference between the GDP in the last quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014 was roughly .025%. From a statistical standpoint, that result is the same as saying that there was no growth during the quarter. After all, for each one thousand dollars of production in the fourth quarter, there was supposedly an extra 25 cents worth of production in the first quarter of this year. The government just cannot measure these things so finely.
Second, the Obama White House was quick to argue that winter weather was to blame for the bad numbers. Jay Carney, the White House Liar, excuse me, the White House spokesman said that economists estimate that one percent of GDP was lost to bad weather. Let's assume that Carney is both telling the truth and that the economists are correct. I realize that it is a big assumption to ever believe that Carney is telling the truth, but let's try it this time. That would make the annual growth rate of the American economy 1.1% during the first quarter. That means that had there been no bad weather, the USA still would have had the second worst quarter of the last five years on this score. It means that even without the bad weather, America would be on the edge of another recession. It means that even without the bad weather, our economy would be failing to grow, failing to create jobs, failing to provide hope for the poor, and generally just failing.
Third, the response by president Obama to today's figures has been his usual response to bad news: Obama has ignored the bad news and tried to change the subject. Obama actually made a statement today about the economy, but his focus was the failure of the Democrat controlled Senate to pass a bill to raise the federal minimum wage. There are countless things that Obama could easily do to increase economic growth and jobs, but instead, he is focused on the minimum wage.
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