Economy is turning aroud

[Berserker]

http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/26/news/ec ... htm?hpt=T2

it looks like the economy is starting to show growth. Also, our exports grew by 22% (we should have done this decades ago!). Both of these are good indicators that we're on a good path. Now, what I want to see is job creation. That, btw, is the last thing that you see in a recovering economy. Jobs only start getting created once the economy is recovering. Let's see what happens next..

[MorGrendel]

My jury is still out, but I appreciate your glass half full outlook. I'm jaded and mean (though I attribute none of this to Obama).

Your article says "unemployment will remain around 10% ", I think this number is remarkably low.
Second, though the increase in business is directly corilated to an increase in government spending/stimulus. It will not last. I do not know the numbers exactly, but I think the spending increase is around 10%-12% and has only reaped a return of 6%. That is not good, especially since it mean I pay more taxes.
Finally, Exporting goods is good. However, the article does not say that. Exports like cotton, steel, and other raw goods are actually bad for us, as we end up paying more for a shirt or an engine part than you would if it was made domesticaly. This is the Catch 22 most 3rd-word-nations find themselves in. I will also want to look into this because last time I saw a spike like that we sold oil filled tankers, part and parcel, to Spain to jack up the price of oil.

[Berserker]

You make good points. The article does not say what we are exporting more of, indeed. I will need to research that and see what caused the 22% increase in exports.

And I agree, part of the growth that we're seeing is because of the government spending and that growth will wein as the gov't will pull back on the spending. Hopefully, if the timing is correct, the industry should pick up where the gov't left off and continue the economic growth. But like I said, only time will tell. Remember, all these economics theories on what to do are just that. Theories. In theory they work great, but in practice there can be quite some unexpected outcomes.

But yeah, I like looking at glasses half full, particulary is they are filled with rum ;)

[Berserker]

Ok, so here's where you would find extensive trade data. Unfortunately, they haven't updated it past the 3rd quarter of '09 yet. There is also an article that talks about the 4th quarter in some detail.

The various data tables:
http://www.bea.gov/international/bp_web ... fm?anon=71

The article:
http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/interna ... ad1209.txt

[MorGrendel]

An interesting graph on unemployment.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/arc ... obs/37184/