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Sorry, Dave Ramsey, Recession definition a “technicality”, Economy “feels pretty bad”

Dave has been hammered lately on the issue of recession. Everyone FEELS like we are in one, but to date, we have not seen any negative growth in GDP, so it doesn’t meet the criteria of a recession. This gets Dave’s blood boiling. Everyone thinks we are in a recession, except Dave, who actually says that it is possible for us to be in the leading edge of a recession. The point is that we have not met the definition of recession and have not even seen one month of GDP shrinkage. Definition? We don’t need no stinking definition.

Dave has a great point and the Chicken Little syndrome that has swept the nation looks like it could be a self fulfilling prophecy. If everyone thinks we are in a recession, we soon probably will be when those people start reacting out of fear with their finances.

Lots of big names like Alan Greenspan and John McCain for example have said that we are in a recession. McCain probably doesn’t want to look out of touch. Yesterday, fed officials actually said that it is a “recession in all but name.” Apparently the definition of recession is no longer relevant. If it feels like a recession, it must be a recession. One cannot help but wonder if it felt like the economy was great, if the economy would improve.

San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen said economic prospects are “unusually uncertain,” with growth “at best” at a crawl.

Slow growth does not a recession make, unless it is an election year. Here’s the part that will probably make the veins pop out on Dave’s forehead.

“I’m not ruling out a recession,” she told reporters later. The ultimate designation of a recession — two straight quarters of negative growth – is mostly a technicality, Yellen said.

A technicality? Really?

Across the country, Charles Plosser, president of the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank, said the economy “feels pretty bad,” regardless of whether a recession is declared.

There you have it. It feels like a recession The media feeds this vicious cycle. Again, we may be in a recession, but it’s great to see someone like Dave Ramsey who stays positive in the sea of negativity that is our news media in an election year.