Recessions Are Nothing New
News broadcast are heavy into describing the misery in the local economy. Often their major story hinges on bad news that has fallen on local and national businesses. Plants are closing, people are losing their jobs, cities are out of money, and budgets are under water.
Maybe they need to report what sells. And misery loves company.
Some folks suggest that we simply not watch the news or read the papers. Others suggest that we should ignore or deny the economic storm that’s going on. Some announce that they are refusing to participate in the recession.
How real is that? Business cycle recessionary periods are not new. The US economy has weathered ten (10) recessions since the end of WW11.
Do you get tired of all the negative stories about the economy? Want to find a source to keep you informed and better prepared for your business planning?
Dr. Michael B. Lehmann researches and writes about the business cycle and current economic events. Lehmann regularly updates his blog, “Be Your Own Economist (R)”.
He offers an easy method for getting the data behind the events and a little of his perspective on the significance of the data. Currently, the picture is not so rosy, but it’s real.
If you visit his blog, you will notice that he also maintains a web site which includes a convenient list of key economic indicator data links. The blog and web site provide charts that illustrate the history of the US economy going back to 1945.
If this sort of thing is interesting to you, you might want to look over Lehmann’s book. It’s available at local book stores.
One could use his book in conjunction with the internet data sources to stay attuned to economic indicators and outlook for the rest of 2009. Remember, this thing won’t last forever…Look on the sunny side.
Posted: February 2nd, 2009 under The Economy.
Tags: Business cycle, Dr. Michael B. Lehmann, economic events, The US economy
Comments
Comment from Rhonda Hess, Coaching Business Success Strategist
Time February 18, 2009 at 2:14 pm
This economy is a correction. Great to be reminded, Chuck, that we’ve been here before and survived. Thanks for the resource!
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Comment from CJ
Time February 7, 2009 at 2:44 am
Friday, February 6, 2009
-598,000
The Lehmann Letter ©
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ crafts its employment reports to convey data, not drama. But today’s report does both (http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm ):
“Nonfarm payroll employment fell sharply in January (-598,000) and the unemployment rate rose from 7.2 to 7.6 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Payroll employment has declined by 3.6 million since the start of the recession in December 2007; about one-half of this decline occurred in the past 3 months. In January, job losseswere large and widespread across nearly all major industry sectors.”
Lehmann has been busy posting data as it becomes available.