Quote:This coming July 28th, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis will release the second quarter GDP numbers, and all available signs point to a disastrous report. Current trackers have growth sitting at around -1.6 percent as of July 19th.

That means that according to the most traditional definition of a recession, the United States has already entered into one. US first quarter GDP came in at -1.6 percent, which combines with the second quarter drop to give the economy two straight quarters of negative growth. That is the technical definition of a recession. Further, the bond yield curve has recently inverted, something that has preceded every other recession in modern history.

What’s the White House to do with that devastating economic news dropping on their watch and as a result of their policies? Apparently, in a move that would make George Orwell cringe, they are going to simply redefine what it means to be in a recession.

I wonder if the “economists” cited by the White House in that statement are the same “economists” who said inflation would be temporary and transitory? That would make sense given how ridiculous it is to suggest that two straight quarters of negative growth combined with an inflationary boom and a yield curve inversion don’t qualify as a recession. After all, why be technical about something as important as analyzing the US economy when you can just have a panel of faceless economic advisors redefine the terms and proclaim that negative growth is actually a sign of strength.

Try to imagine a scenario where a Republican administration tried to rig the game like this. How do you think the press would respond? I’m pretty sure we’d be getting a deluge of articles asserting the dishonesty in not calling two straight quarters of negative growth a recession.

Instead, because this is Joe Biden we are talking about, we will continue to get tortured pieces about how low unemployment is the only indicator that matters. Even then, we only have low employment because of a labor shortage partly driven by the current supply chain crisis, so even Biden’s big “win” economically is a product of him losing everywhere else.

The good news is that no one is going to buy this sleight of hand because as I’ve said before, you can’t lie to people about what’s in their bank accounts. People recognize economic hardship when it occurs because they personally feel it. That’s what makes the economy such a preeminent issue in politics. The White House would do better to take its lump instead of misleading the American people. By doing so, they are only feeding into the accurate perception that the administration is both clueless and unable to even acknowledge the hardships of those it ostensibly serves. That’s not a winning strategy.

Link

Watch: Janet Yellen's Spin on Recession Defies Reality

Quote:As we reported earlier, the word looks like there’s going to be a negative-1.6 GDP when the numbers come in this week on July 28th. Two consecutive quarters of negative GDP is the common definition of a recession. The White House is already trying to spin the anticipated results and redefine what a recession is.

‘On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen acknowledged the real definition of a recession.

But even while acknowledging the proper definition and acknowledging that a negative GDP number was likely coming, she tried to spin and claimed that this was “not an economy in recession,” trying to term it just a “slowdown” and a “transition.”

“The economy is slowing down,” Yellen said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” adding that a correction is “appropriate” for a healthy economy.

“The labor market is now extremely strong,” she said. “This is not an economy that’s in recession, but we’re in a period of transition in which growth is slowing. And that’s necessary and appropriate, and we need to be growing at a steady and sustainable pace. So there is a slowdown, and businesses can see that and that’s appropriate, given that people now have jobs, and we have a strong labor market.”

“But you don’t see any of the signs now – a recession is a broad-based contraction that affects many sectors of the economy. We just don’t have that,” she added. “I would say that we’re seeing a slowdown.” [….]

“Even if that number is negative, we’re not in a recession now, and we should not be characterizing that as a recession,” she said.

So, the same Biden team that has lied about inflation and gas prices now wants to redefine what a recession is to deny reality. Yellen was wrong about inflation too, calling it “transitory.” It’s been “transitory” for about 13 months now.

Yellen trying to claim it wouldn’t be a recession was even a little too much for “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd. Todd said she was “splitting hairs” and that it met the “technical definition” of recession, but she was trying to claim it wasn’t.

“That’s not the technical definition,” Yellen argued. “There’s an organization called the National Bureau of Economic Research that looks at a broad range of data in deciding whether or not there is a recession, and most of the data that they look at right now continues to be strong. I would be amazed if the NBER would declare this period to be a recession, even if it happens to have two quarters of negative growth. We’ve got a very strong labor market. When you’re creating almost 400,000 jobs a month, that is not a recession.”

Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich pointed out the problem with that spin, with a little history.

Yellen wants to take credit for people coming back to work from the pandemic. Unfortunately, the reality of Biden’s economy is now hitting.

Here’s more information Yellen just wants to ignore: Jobless claims are on the rise.

So, Yellen can spin, just as she did with inflation, but all the signs are there and if it comes in negative as expected, it’s going to be hard for the Biden team to argue it away. Unfortunately, this denial of reality is a continual problem of the Biden Administration.

I take it that means we're in a recession. Not to worry, they'll just blame Trump, Bush, Putin, COVID, Manchin, etc. We all knew this was coming tho.

They're like a bunch of preschoolers changing the rules as they go when they start losing.