With pundits and politicos handicapping the campaign like the Super Bowl, it's easy to lose sight of what's at stake. An economy in peril. A country at war. A future uncertain.
In the meantime, President Bush discussed the economy in Chicago:
We have a strong foundation in our economy, but we cannot take economic growth for granted. That's what I want to share with you. I understand that while there is a foundation that would be the envy of a lot of other nations, we cannot take growth for granted. We confront economic challenges, from the downturn of the housing sector to high energy prices to painful adjustments in some of the financial markets. Recent economic indicators have become increasingly mixed. Last Friday we learned that our economy has now had 52 months of uninterrupted job growth. That's a record. That's the longest period of job creation on record.Our entrepreneurs are taking risks. Our small businesses are expanding.
To be fair, the President did say there is some mixed news. But whether the economy is strong or the economy is in peril, Bush and Giuliani agree we need to keep taxes low even if they have no real intent on reducing government spending low. More on this theme from Paul Krugman.
3 comments:
You know pgl, I cannot make it past the first 3rd of this speech which is full of 'thank you's for 'showing up'...and I am a very tolerant person...just not a masochist.
Please cutanpaste the relevant economic remarks from the script to spare your readers the torture.
The US trade deficit expanded to its highest level in 14 months in November as imports, especially of oil, overshadowed a rise in exports.
"The Commerce Department said that the trade deficit expanded by 9.3% to $63.1bn (£32bn) driven by a 16.3% jump in America's foreign oil bill.
US exports rose by 0.4% to a new record of $142.3bn, getting a boost from the weaker dollar.
Analysts said the growing deficit could weigh on US economic growth."
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That 0.4% rise in exports? That was sales of The Satanic Bible. The rest of the world wants to know why we're so successful.
welvis - Paul Krugman on his blog is also worrying that export demand growth may be too weak to save us from a recession.
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