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The Recession Will End… In Years, Not Months
Most Americans think we’ll be in recession for two more years. According to a new poll from Gallop/USA Today, just as many people think the recession will end in a year as do those who think it will end in five years, with the rest of the respondents falling in the middle.
Could such gloom just be the winter blues? Perhaps, but the findings are similar to those from July:
When asked in an open-ended question how long they expect it to be before the economy starts to recover, 30% now say five years or more, up from 19% in February but similar to the 28% who said so in December. Overall, 68% of Americans now expect it to take two years or more before the economy starts to recover, little changed from 71% in February. One in four (27%) now expect it to take less than two years, about the same as the 24% in February who said this.
However, in general, there does seem to be a slight trend toward a better outlook:
This news follows a seemingly strong GDP report on Friday, which showed the economy had expanded at a rate of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter. But any celebrations were quickly cut short by some analysts’ sober reminders that the growth merely reflected a replenishing of inventories intentionally held low earlier in the year:
- Goldman Sachs’ economic analyst Jan Hatzius is calling for a U-shaped recession, where recovery is slower.
- “Dr. Doom” Nouriel Roubini, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, predicted the economy would slow to 1.5 percent in the second half of the year.
- White House economic adviser Larry Summers, who just a couple of months ago asserted that “everybody agrees that the recession is over,” is now softening that statement with a new one, that we are merely in a “human recession.” (Whatever that may be – versus a “cat recession”?)
Whatever the economists predict, Americans are feeling the pain of continued unemployment, expiring unemployment benefits, tight credit, and underwater home values. No wonder it feels like it’s going to last forever.
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Honestly, I think we have a long way to go before the recession ends…There is so much more that can be done on a local, national and international level that can aid in ending the recession, such as not spending so wastefully. As a result, many people have changed the way that they spend in order to help themselves in the recession. Here is a funny article about photographic evidence that the recession is still going on:http://www.gobankingrates.com/photographic-evidence-times-are-still-hard/
ENJOY!