2011 4th Quarter GDP: 3.0%

The Commerce Department reported that higher levels of spending by consumers and businesses resulted in an upward revision to U.S. economic growth during the fourth quarter of 2011, the annualized rate of 2.8 percent that was reported a month ago revised up to 3.0 percent in the second of three estimates for the period.

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4th Quarter 2011: 2.8% Growth

This is the first of three estimates for the period and marks the best growth rate in a year-and-a-half following a reading of 1.8 percent in the third quarter. But, don’t be surprised if the most recent data is revised lower since downward revisions have been the norm in recent quarters, the third quarter data starting out at a similar level – a 2.5 percent rate – when it was initially reported.

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Manufacturing Growth

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Philly Fed State Coincident Indexes increase in October

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia has released the coincident indexes for the 50 states for October 2011. In the past month, the indexes increased in 43 states, decreased in five, and remained unchanged in two (Georgia and New Mexico) for a one-month diffusion index of 76. Over the past three months, the indexes increased in 42 states, decreased in seven, and remained unchanged in one (Delaware) for a three-month diffusion index of 70.

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GDP 3rd Quarter 2011: 2.5%

2nd Quarter GDP: Revised Up to 1.3%

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The Economy

When credit creation can no longer be sustained, the markets must began to clear the excesses before the cycle can begin again. It is only then (and must be allowed to happen) that resources can be reallocated back towards more efficient uses. This is why all the efforts of Keynesian policies to stimulate growth in the economy have ultimately failed. Those fiscal and monetary policies, from TARP and QE to tax cuts, only delay the clearing process. Ultimately, that delay only potentially worsens the inevitable clearing process.

The clearing process is going to be very substantial. The economy is currently requiring roughly $4 of total credit market debt to create $1 of economic growth. A reversion to a structurally manageable level of debt would involve a nearly $30 Trillion reduction of total credit market debt. The economic drag from such a reduction will be dramatic while the clearing process occurs.

This is one of the primary reasons why economic growth will continue to run at lower levels going into the future. We will witness an economy plagued by more frequent recessionary spats, lower equity market returns, and a stagflationary environment as wages remain suppressed and the costs of living rise. However, only by clearing the excess can the personal savings return to levels that can promote productive investment, production and ultimately consumption.

The end game of three decades of excess is upon us, and we can't deny the weight of the balance sheet recession that is currently in play. As we have stated in the past — the medicine that the current administration is prescribing to the patient is a treatment for the common cold — in this case a normal business-cycle recession. The problem is that this patient is suffering from a cancer of debt, and, until we begin the proper treatment, the patient will continue to wither.

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2nd Quarter GDP: 1.0%

The dashed line is the current growth rate. Growth in Q2 at 1.0% annualized was below trend growth (around 3%) - and very weak for a recovery, especially with all the slack in the system.

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Slow Growth Continues

Economic growth in the second quarter was slightly weaker than previously estimated, according to revised U.S. government data released Friday.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic health, rose at an annual rate of 1% in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said.

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GDP Revisions

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GDP Growth

The obvious connection, as I’ve pointed out on many occasions, is that America is becoming a European-style welfare state and it is unavoidable that we will suffer from European-style economic malaise.

P.S. It should be noted that America’s anemic economic performance in recent years is not solely Obama’s fault. As the White House repeatedly points out, he inherited a downturn. That is completely accurate. My complaint, however, is that Obama promised hope and change but instead has exacerbated the big government policies of his predecessor.

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GDP Growth Rates

On an annual basis, real GDP grew by 2.9% in 2010, the highest annual gain since a 3.05% increase in 2005, according to today's BEA report. In dollars, real GDP in 2010 was $13.248 trillion, which set a new annual record for U.S. output, surpassing the $13.228 trillion levels in 2007 and 2008.

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Real GDP Now Above Pre-Recession Level

"U.S. economic output finally regained the level reached before the recession, as growth sped up on stronger consumer spending and exports (see chart above).

Gross domestic product—a broad measure of all goods and services produced—grew at a 3.2% annual rate in the fourth quarter. That's up from the 2.6% pace notched the quarter before and confirms the view held by many economists and stock-market investors that the economy is gaining enough momentum to start bringing down unemployment in the months ahead.

The expansion in large part was fueled by a jump in consumer spending—a crucial change from earlier in the recovery, when growth relied heavily on businesses investing and building up inventories. Final sales—a measure that gives a feeling for underlying demand in the economy by subtracting the change in business inventories from GDP—notched its biggest increase since 1984, growing 7.1% in the fourth quarter. This reviving demand bodes well for 2011, because businesses could take it as a signal to stock their shelves and hire workers."

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GDP 3rd Quarter 2010: 2.0%

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Economic Recovery

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Growth and Unemployment

The following table summarizes several scenarios over the next year (starting from the current 9.6% unemployment rate):

Real GDP Growth	Unemployment Rate in One Year
0.0%	11.0%
1.0%	10.5%
2.0%	10.0%
3.0%	9.6%
4.0%	9.1%
5.0%	8.7%

I expected a sluggish recovery in 2010, so I thought the unemployment rate would stay elevated throughout 2010 (that was correct)...

In general, the U.S. economy needs to grow faster than a 3% real rate to reduce the unemployment - and there is no evidence yet of a pickup in growth.

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GDP 3rd Quarter 2010: 2.0%

This graph shows the quarterly GDP growth (at an annual rate) for the last 30 years. The dashed line is the median growth rate of 3.05%. The current recovery is very weak - the 2nd half slowdown continues.

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Why 'Stimulus' Doesn't Stimulate

Robert Higgs writes:

President Obama has asked Congress for an additional $50 billion in "stimulus" money to finance infrastructure projects. The theory is that the additional spending will cause businesses to boost production to meet this demand. Producers will add jobs, triggering increases in consumer spending that will ripple through the economy and fuel a stronger overall recovery.

Unfortunately, however, such government pump-priming hasn't worked in the past, and there's no reason to believe it will work now...

So the conventional wisdom—that a sharp decline in consumer spending caused the economy's downturn—is wrong.

What did cause the downturn? The answer is: a sharp decline in private investment.

In fact, the ups and downs of the business cycle are always driven by investment spending, not by consumption spending...

The media's focus on consumption unfortunately tempts politicians to approve "stimulus" measures aimed at pumping up this part of total spending—measures such as long extensions of unemployment insurance, aid to state and local governments to help them avoid personnel reductions, and increases in federal employee salaries.

Some economists in fact single out such measures for special praise on the grounds that such payments, because they are most likely to stimulate near-term consumption spending, have the greatest "multiplier effect."

Such arguments fail to grasp the true nature of boom-bust cycles, however, especially the central role of investment spending in driving them—and, more important, in driving long-term economic growth.

If politicians truly wish to promote genuine, sustainable recovery and long-term economic growth, they should focus on actions that will contribute to a revival of private investment, not on pumping up consumption. In the most recent quarter, gross private domestic investment was still running at an annual rate more than 20 percent below its previous peak. Net private investment was fully two-thirds below the previous peak.

To bring about this essential revival of investment, the government needs to put an end to actions that threaten investors' returns or create uncertainty that paralyzes the undertaking of new long-term projects...

What entrepreneurs, investors and executives await is policy stability and predictability, not more government spending, borrowing, sweeping new regulations, and heightened uncertainty.

Our crying need at present is for a robust revival of private long-term investment. Consumption-oriented government "stimulus" programs, threats of tax increases for entrepreneurs and business owners, and costly regulatory onslaughts breed fear and uncertainty and thus ensure a protracted period of economic stagnation.

read the entire essay

Post Recession Real GDP Growth

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GDP Revisions

And here is a summary of the revisions:

Quarter	GDP	GDP Revised	Change
2007-I	1.2%	0.9%	-0.3%
2007-II	3.2%	3.2%	0.0%
2007-III	3.6%	2.3%	-1.3%
2007-IV	2.1%	2.9%	0.8%
2008-I	-0.7%	-0.7%	0.0%
2008-II	1.5%	0.6%	-0.9%
2008-III	-2.7%	-4.0%	-1.3%
2008-IV	-5.4%	-6.8%	-1.4%
2009-I	-6.4%	-4.9%	1.5%
2009-II	-0.7%	-0.7%	0.0%
2009-III	2.2%	1.6%	-0.6%
2009-IV	5.6%	5.0%	-0.6%
2010-I	2.7%	3.7%	1.0%
2010-II		2.4%

The recession was worse in 2008 than originally estimated.

Q1 2010 was revised up, but Q3 and Q4 2009 were revised down. So the recovery is a little weaker than originally estimated.