@Randem

There’s a lot of disinformation and disagreement out there about whether or not we’re headed into recession. Make no mistake: we are.

It’s not a question of “is it or isn’t it”, but rather a question of “dear god, how bad is it going to be?” Take a look, for instance, at this article in Time magazine:

Consumer spending used to make up about 67% of all the economic activity in the U.S., but over the past few years, it’s ratcheted up to around 72%. “If we take the 5 percentage points out this year, it will be the mother of all U.S. recessions,” Roach says. But putting the adjustment off indefinitely isn’t a great idea either. “It’s just pushing the fundamental problem down the road,” says Columbia University economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz. “The problem with the U.S. is excessive consumption.”

And for bonus points, look back to Tuesday’s rant about consumerism on Valentine’s Day, and reconcile that thought in your head against the last sentence quoted above. Allow me to reiterate, with emphasis added: The problem with the U.S. is excessive consumption.

The government’s proposed “stimulus package”, only pisses me off. This is the brilliant idea whereby poor people will be receiving free money from the government, in hopes that it will spur them out to buy more goods. But wait a second… if the problem in the U.S. is excessive consumption, how does funding even more consumption help to solve the problem?

Those with any brain matter in their heads will use that money to pay back part of the debt they’ve tallied by over-spending, because once the disinformation ends and we all accept that it’s a recession, I promise you that those who carry debt will suffer the most.