It could be worse. It could be raining.

Yeah, more rosy hyperbole from junk propagandists. It’s a recession when your neighbor loses their job and depression when you lose yours. The EA Gateway still has jobs. Go figure.

Well, we’re not number 1 here at least.

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/family/19844389/detail.html

No, it’s a depression when all of your neighbors have lost their jobs. Just because you lost your job doesn’t mean the country is in a depression. The current unemployment rate is too high, but it’s no where near what you’d find in a depression. Let’s try to put the pain in perspective. We could be facing 25% unemployment, soup kitchens on every corner and white collar professionals selling fruit from a cart. Things are bad, but they could be much worse.

Yeah, it could be worse. If it weren’t for the millions on “funemployment” as the media calls it, we’d have some pretty depressed citizens. Funny how when Bush was in 5% unemployment was the indicator of a terrible economy, but when O is in, we get “funemployment” stories. Wasn’t it just weeks ago, O told his constituents in Hollywood that the economy had “turned a corner”?

And Barney Frank is trying to get the Fannie and Freddie to lower credit restrictions to increase lending to high risk borrowers again. Does it get any better than this?

Exactly how does a report drawing upon nationally recognized authoritative data constitute “rosy hyperbole and junk propaganda”? Check out the presentation before you start throwing accusations around and then tell us where the data has been misconstrued?

Here’s where the data is wrong; during the depression, unemployment figures were reported correctly (all people unemployed were counted). Now, as soon as an unemployed person falls off the unemployment rolls, they dissapear. They are no longer included in the total! Comparing any future reported unemployment figures to reported historical basis is absurd.
Go to this website if you want to learn more about government reports vs. the real state of the union;
http://www.shadowstats.com
As far as housing, it is estimated over 1/3 of foreclosures which have happened thusfar are not even on bank books. Banks simply cannot show the negative assets on their ledgers lest they commit suicide. We are only half way through adjustable mortgage resets, with a wave as big as the last set to adjust right now. Rapidly rising default rates have invaded both the Alt-A and prime mortgage sectors. Subprime has actually returned to fairly normal default rates. That means the foreclosure trend is moving from poorer areas into middle and upper middle class areas.
Looks like we are at a crossroads. Suburban propogation is no longer sustainable. We have enough houses, so why keep building new ones farther and farther out? The urban core revitalization that McKee proposes will be a national movement within a decade. For once, STL might actually be ahead of the curve.