US economic growth is all an illusion
By John Crudele at the New York Post
When Econ Stats Are Nipped, Tucked, Massaged, Fabricated And Faked—–Voters Ask What Recovery?
…The economy is always the major issue in an election during times like these. So no one should have been shocked that voters took their anger out on the party that controls the White House, even though Republicans are just as much to blame for our economy’s failures.
…John Harwood, a political reporter for CNBC, asked a very good question before the votes were counted: Why? As in, “Why did people appear so angry and unhappy when the stock market was at record levels, the unemployment rate is down sharply, inflation is subdued and the number of jobs is increasing?”
The economy isn’t really doing what the statistics say it is doing. Our nation’s economic statistics are nipped and tucked, massaged, managed, fabricated and dolled up. In short, our statistics are wrong and Main Street folks know it.
Here’s what a Wall Street hedge fund mogul, Paul Singer, head of Elliott Management Corp., told his clients the other day:
“Nobody can predict how long governments can get away with fake growth, fake money, fake jobs, fake financial stability, fake inflation numbers and fake income growth,” Singer wrote. “When confidence is lost, that loss can be severe, sudden and simultaneous across a number of markets and sectors.”
He wrote that in his newsletter to his clients. So, shhhhh! It’s a secret. Don’t tell Americans that the economy isn’t doing so well. (Oh, that’s right, they’ve already caught on).
I won’t get into the year-long investigation into the Census Bureau’s faulty economic data. Now that the Republicans control both houses of Congress, I’m sure what is going on at Census will be looked at very carefully. But fabrication of data isn’t the only problem. Put enough academics and statisticians in a room and they can turn any statistic into something it isn’t. Let’s use Singer’s list.
- Fake growth: The US economy is growing moderately. That’s pretty much certain — but it’s not growing as fast as the government would have you believe. The Commerce Department recently pegged third-quarter growth at a 3.5 percent annual rate — but earlier this week, some real numbers came out. Our exports declined in the third quarter and construction spending was weak. So that 3.5 percent guess will probably be revised down to a 2.9 percent annual rate on those numbers alone. But Singer is probably also referring to the artificially low inflation number that Commerce uses in its GDP calculations. If inflation were measured correctly, GDP growth for all years might be 30 percent lower than reported.Fake money: Singer is referring to the $4 trillion in dough the Federal Reserve printed under quantitative easing (that they admit) that has resulted in millions of regular folks not getting much interest income…
- Fake jobs: The Labor Department adds hundreds of thousands of jobs a year to its count for positions it thinks, but can’t prove, are being created by new companies. This practice, which has gone on for decades, needs to be investigated. (see the Charles Biderman(Trim Tabs) video Link below for his easy solution to this Bu!!S@#$%* guesswork.)
- Fake financial stability: The artificially low interest rates are not only propping up banks and Wall Street profits but also making the US government’s financial position look better than reality. If Washington had to pay market rates for the money it borrows, the US budget deficit and debt levels — already excessive — would be worse.
- Fake inflation numbers: Commerce doesn’t only play tricks with the inflation number used to calculate the GDP. It also tamps down the consumer price index — and cheats Social Security recipients and others — through academically approved methods like geometric weighting and hedonics.
• source: DavidStockmansContraCorner.com
Greg Hunter from USAWatchdog.com Interviews John Williams from Shadowstats.com
In the video:
- The big pitch in the political media and the financial media is that the economy has recovered. It hasn’t recovered.
- Williams looks at real numbers, before massaging and tweaking and seasonally adjusting….
- The GDP numbers are adjusted for inflation, if you adjust by an inflation rate that is too low (and we all know their’s is) the resulting implied growth is higher
- They’ve changed the methods of calculation
- The reason we’ve stagnated and not had a recovery is that the consumer is unable to fuel it.
- They will use the economy as cover for its actions in trying to prop up the stock market and trying to prop up the banking system.
- The Fed is going to have a QE 4, will tend to hit the dollar very hard. Along with that, a spike in gold prices and we’re off and running. . . .
- Panic Dollar selling & much more!
• source: usawatchdog.com
Global Economy Has Collapsed-Andy Hoffman
Greg Hunter from USAWatchdog.com Interviews Andy Hoffman from MilesFranklin.com
In the video:
- Let’s get it straight, The Fed is NOT here to do what their “Dual Mandate” says which is: support full employment and stable prices-if that were the case they’d be considered the most incompetent organization in history.
- Their job is to make sure people think things are fine.
- What they’re really doing is “behind the curtain” doing whatever it takes to make it look that way.
- much more on how they do it!
- fake numbers and how the economies of the world are getting worse and worse
• source: usawatchdog.com
Fmr. Obama Official Explains Why The Obama Economy Stinks
Former Obama administration official Steve Rattner explained Americans’ frustration with the economy in simple terms: Wages are down, and a lot of people who want to work still are not working.
Rattner said the Democratic Party’s “positive” economic message “didn’t seem to resonate” with voters because, as Vice President Biden so eloquently stated, middle class workers can “feel it in their bones” that the recovery has been weak.
• source: washingtonfreebeacon.com
Charles Biderman at the Irrational Economic Summit
….on why Obama is the Worst Economic President and what’s wrong with GDP and the Bureau of Labor Statistics initial jobs report. In this video: Why the US economy is in big trouble & why the government data is garbage.