Why has the economy slowed down again?

[Dawson Leery]

It appears that the May job's report will show 40,000 new jobs.
Yet there were 200,000 jobs created each month (in the past few months).
Why the sudden slow down?

[Cleita]

1. Because they threw the stimulus and bail out monies

to the wrong people. We really needed a massive program to rebuild our infrastructure and invest in renewable energy IN THIS COUNTRY, not overseas. That and putting money into rebuilding communities devastated by Mother Nature's fury in the past years would have created jobs and stimulated private businesses that would have sprung up in response to the money flowing into impoverished communities, but instead we are throwing it away on Wall Street, Banks and the privatized parts of the military.

[socialist_n_TN]

25. Hammer meet nail. They relied on "the private sector"

to create jobs when the "private sector" is all about creating PROFITS. When the "private sector" took taxpayer dollars and created profits instead of jobs, all that money that COULD have spurred DEMAND was wasted on making rich people richer.

[Skink]

2. Deasonal companies like theme parks call people up for the summer.

that was all done before this month now after the summer they will lay them all off.

[DJ13]

3. Because the idiots in DC thought stimulating the upper class would trickle down

We would be long out of the recession (depression) if even half that money had been targeted at the lower classes where the money would have been spent, promoting increased economic activity.

[Lasher]

4. Gasoline prices have something to do with it.

Another part of it is, a lot of pre-recession jobs are not going to come back at all, at least in this country.

[Eddie Haskell]

24. I agree

Food and energy may not count for the inflation index, but they're a large component of our budget. People are spending less because they have less to spend.

[kickysnana]

5. Because the same people who crashed it are still in charge..

The crooks were not prosecuted. The system was not reined in and we are redoing NAFTA and tax breaks for the rich instead of rebuilding the economy.

But we knew that before 2009 and we are all talking about playing chess, and not protesting about the idiocracy of it and electing the same idiots that sold us hope and change and gave us ruination and despair.

[AndyTiedye]

6. Because the Teabaggers Will Stonewall on the Debt Ceiling and Push the US Into Default

That would be the apotheosis of the Party of NO, wouldn't it?

And their backers go short and make a killing on the crash.

[DJ13]

7. And their backers go short and make a killing on the crash.

If they destroy our currency their profits will be meaningless.

[originalpckelly]

8. Centralized planning.

When 71% of the wealth is held by only 10% of the people, that really means that 71% of the power to make decisions by our economy is vested in the hands of that small group. When 1% of the people control 38% of the wealth, then that means we are living in a centrally planned economy.

It looks like centralized planning really doesn't have to be done in a government held fashion.

[99th_Monkey]

9. Never fear, The Invisible Hand has a firm grip on the rudder. It's all really good

Ya, it's all good if you happen to be filthy rich, otherwise, you can just fuck off and die.

[mmonk]

10. Austerity measures.

The US is a one trick pony in economics.

[AngryAmish]

11. Gas prices and propping up the housing market

1. Energy spikes traditionally come before economic downturns.

2. The stimulus wasn't really a stimulus.

3. Housing has not been allowed to fall to reach market clearing prices - stupid subsidies keep prices too high too long.

4. Nobody knows how to run the economy. Knowledge problem - it is too complex. People will not admit they don't know how to do it and there is political pressure to do something, even harmful things.

[mmonk]

12. Propping up the housing market?

What planet? As a REALTOR, I would like to move there.

[AngryAmish]

13. 1..First time home buyer credit

2. Allowing banks to keep foreclosed and delinquent homes on the books at inflated prices to make their balance sheets look better. Otherwise these would be sold and depress the prices too the market clearing prices.

3. Fannie and Freddie. We have pumped hundreds of billions into propping them up. They keep making loans at a price below market. Otherwise prices of credit would be higher and depressing housing prices to...wait for it...market clearing price.

Housing prices are (in an economic sense) sticky. People don't like to drop their prices. The longer prices are propped up the longer it takes to get to market clearing prices.

[mmonk]

16. First, the credit was put into so persons with declining incomes

could still buy and try to stall the industry collapse (which affects us all). Second, instead of reworking the loans which would stabilize home values, the banks were trying to foreclose on everything and that drives prices down, not up.


There is little evidence of a housing recovery, and many homeowners are faced with sinking home values, more often than not far below than what they had paid for the property.

In March, close to two-fifths of homes sold in the United States were underwater, which means that the value of the house was below the price the seller had originally paid.
-snip-

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/business/us-housing-market-in-slump-57127.html

[sendero]

14. The economy...

.. has never recovered in any meaningful way. While I agree with most of the comments already made on this thread, I'd like to disabuse everyone of the idea that there ever was a recovery. It was so weak it might as well have been statistical noise.

There are lots of possible reasons we seem to be approaching another stall point, from the LUDICROUS debt ceiling theater to gas prices to QE2 ostensibly ending to more and more people realizing that the "recovery" talk is just that, talk, and deciding to hunker down (which savvy people have been doing since 2005 or 2006 at the latest).

The government has done very little to actually help the problems in the economy and has instead focused on trying to save the banks, something that quite possibly cannot be done at any price.

It's going to be FUN watching Obama (who appointed the assholes that created this mess to begin with to try to fix it, laughably idiotic) scramble to try to apply more defibrilating shocks to this corpse to try to get something going in time for 2012. It's awfully late to start worrying about the little people Barak.

[kentuck]

15. Repubs are scaring the market with their threats.....

...to not vote to increase debt limit. At least, that is what they would say if the shoe were on the other foot. But we don't play that type of hardball.

[sendero]

17. But..

... the stock market has very very little to do with the economy as a whole. It's only been up due to the Fed's money printing, which is really done to prop up the banks and to try to restart housing prices.

It's helped a bit with the former, very little with the latter.

[JCMach1]

18. energy costs...

[Skidmore]

19. Big boys are gaming the 2012 election.

[madokie]

20. Because the majority of the business owners are republicons

and the last thing they want to actually see is this President get re-elected. He has the wrong politics and he's got the wrong skin color for them.
Hell that is an easy one to figure out. If you don't think thats true then I'd like to talk to you about this bridge I own out in Arizona, maybe you want to buy it. I'll make you a hell of a deal.

[Exilednight]

21. Truth be told, Obama, as soon as the primary was over, switched economic positions and

replaced his economic team from the primary with Hillary and Bill's economic team - the same team that got us in this mess to begin with.

The stimulus was poorly spent, and huge chunks of it were made up of tax cuts for corporations and the rich.

[spooked911]

22. Lots of reasons, but part of it is poor management from the Obama team

they have NOT focused on creating jobs at all, and it's insane.

[deminks]

23. 'They are going to hang him with the misery index.'

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2011/04/romney_wants_to.html