What recession?

Question

how can people say we are in a recession when companies are posting numbers like this? and don't forget the billions the oil companies are making....... to me, it looks like the car companies and the housing market suck, but pretty much everything else is doing ok? why is the media saying we're in such a recession? And just cause gas prices are up doesn't mean the economy is in bad shape.

-Microsoft 4Q profit jumps 42 percent

-IBM 2Q profit jumps 22 percent, beats forecast

-Google 2Q profit rises 35 pct,

is it global warming on the brain?

Answer 1

Hey, Einstein, not everyone works for the oil companies or is at the top of the food chain in Corporations.  The U.S. has lost hundreds of thousands of jobs since the year started.  Want to explain that?  Talk to small business owners and see if they are happy with the economy.  Gas prices and oil are also indicators that the economy is doing well or poorly since it is used to hedge investments.  The price of oil is obviously going up so it should tell you what is going on with the rest of the stock market.  Want to take a guess how that's doing overall?

Answer 2

Recession? What exactly IS a recession? There is a definition which alludes to jobs created and lost, but I see it differently. I see a recession as related to the cost of living. The higher the cost of living change per unit time, the more likely we are in a recession. In the past 5 years, I have seen the price of gas double per gallon, but is still less than the price of bottled water. I have seen my food bill up to 150% of 5 years ago. I have seen my utility bills double. Recession? Not exactly, but CLOSE. I do not think the economy is in bad shape but we are suffering from the Dubya mentality. Dubya has done a LOT to HURT business and promoted inflation, which eats (erodes) our dollars. The cost of living has changed so much since Dubya took office that I wonder, has this president done anything to make my cost of living better? Unfortunately, Dubya has HURT me, making my cost of living much higher than I can afford, and that, to me, means he has put us into a recession whether he admits it or not.

Answer 3

The rich are making trillions in profits. The poor are struggling to survive more than ever. The middle class is disappearing, either becoming wealthy or poor.

Change is here. No one can stop it.

Answer 4

You're probably too young to remember the Great Depression of 1929. Everybody was 'getting rich' in the stock market; big business was booming; profits were sky-high. And while the champagne flowed, the orchestra kept playing on the deck of the Titanic. When the markets crashed, banks failed, and millions of people found themselves unemployed, the bubble burst. And there weren't enough ledges from which to jump off.

I predict the next economic depression will happen in October, 2009 - and it will make 1929's event look like an ice cream social.   -RKO-  07/17/08

Answer 5

the time will come when you are the other end of the question, don't be so arrogant!

Answer 6

You are in a recession when you look at overall figures.  Pointing at the tech sector in isolation is as valid as at the oil and car, and housing, sectors in isolation.

The second half of your additional info is exactly right.  The situation is caused, like 29, and the "South Seas bubble" by rampant greed and lack of regulatory restraint at the top.  Your whole system is geared to reward the rich for their folly and punish the poor regardless of folly or otherwise.

If the GOP gets in next election, you will find yourself in full-blown depression in the very near future.  If the Democrats, they may stop the madness, but will it be soon or extreme enough to do their usual rescue act after GOP profligacy? I don't know.

Answer 7

uhhmmmm......what?