Newps wrote in message news:NXvRb.167758$na.277405@attbi_s04...
The economy officialy recovered in late 2002. We are already in our
second year of the good economy.

I once heard an economist jokingly define a recession as when his
friends lose their jobs. A depression, on the other hand, was when HE
lost his job.

The problem with this recovery is that it's a technical recovery only.
GNP has stopped decreasing quarter per quarter, that's the official
definition of the end of a recovery. That's the way it was defined
when I got my econ. degree and still is. But, that says nothing about
jobs still decreasing, and the ones that are being created are more
often contract temporary positions than permanent ones.

Also, indications are that the net icome for the working public, ie
those that make the majority of their income through jobs, has
decreased. Greenspan encouraged a housing boom to replace the dot com
boom. That's softened the impact of the recession greatly. But it's
a limited thing. People can only refinance and spend so much.

So, yes. We're technically out of recession, and I'll be happy to
take any good news I can get. But in this case it doesn't necessarily
mean much.

-Malcolm Teas