Oh, yeah....about that recession.......

The Recessionistas Were Decisively Wrong
By Jerry Bowyer
The story behind 3.3 percent second-quarter GDP growth.

As of this week, and a revised GDP-growth number of 3.3 percent
for the second quarter, we now know most authoritatively that the recessionistas
were wrong.

The housing crisis wasn’t created by free-market capitalism, but by government meddling. In particular, the crisis is rooted in a raft of government regulations that forced banks to ignore traditional lending standards — such as credit history, income, and neighborhood economic conditions — and instead embrace non-culturally “discriminatory” lending practices based on racial-identity politics. Once the banks were forced to make loans based on political, rather than financial, criteria, and once Fannie and Freddie were forced to buy these loans in the secondary mortgage market, collapse was inevitable. In addition, there is no wealth effect from falling home prices.

People generally don’t spend based on the value of their homes, partly because people almost never know the value of their homes. Furthermore, for every seller taking a bath during a down market there is a buyer getting the deal of a lifetime. Predictions about consumer attrition simply have not materialized because, as Milton Freedman taught us, spending patterns are based on long-term income expectations. For this and many other reasons the much-heralded consumer collapse has yet to appear.

Now let’s look at what did happen. The 2003 tax cuts increased wealth in every segment of the economy, sparking a multi-year boom. But these tax cuts were passed with expiration dates, and the first Bush-tax-cut expiration occurred at the end of last year when small businesses lost some of their ability to take a tax deduction on purchases of business equipment. As the chart shows, this event coincided with a trough in the economic cycle. This past winter, congressional Republicans successfully fought to add the small-business tax breaks to what otherwise was a useless stimulus package, and the market for business equipment recovered in the spring. Voilà — the economy snaps back to 3.3 percent GDP growth.

Will the New York Times and the rest of the media storm-crows who spent most of the spring and summer cackling the “recession” word admit their error and reverse course? I think you already know the answer to that question.

Pound Falls Below $1.80 for First Time Since 2006 After Darling's Comments

The U.K. pound fell below $1.80 for the first time since April
2006 after mortgage approvals dropped to the lowest level in nine years and
manufacturing contracted, adding to evidence of a looming recession.

Jared Joslin art exhibit

Solo Exhibition of paintings by Jared Joslin.August 14- September 13, 2008.
YARGER/STRAUSS Fine Art
354 N Bedford DriveBeverly Hills, CA
August 14- September 13, 2008