Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Recession Now Officially Unofficial

According to The Kiplinger Washington Editors, we are now officially in a recession.  Thank you very much.

But according to John Elsasser, EIC of Public Relations Tactics, PR practitioners are cautiously optimistic about the year ahead.  Thank you very much.

Meanwhile, Jim Owens, Chairman and CEO of Caterpillar reported today, "The U.S. economy is probably in recession now but will likely have real growth this year..."  Thank you very much.

In an unrelated story, George Shiffler (not Stiffler), research director at Gartner says: "The recession is going to affect PC shipments, but it's certainly not going to do anything like it did to the market in 2001."  Thank you very much.

Then again, John Simons, a writer for FORTUNE reported just two days ago, "Advertising spending - the fuel that powers the media and entertainment industries - is poised for downturns as corporations and consumers grow frugal."  Thank you very much.

And then this new survey of American CFOs (weasels) conducted by FEI finds "...recession concerns in the U.S. are impacting their company's budgets, spending and hiring."  Thank you very much.

Elsewhere, the National Post reports that "the Iraq war is monstrously expensive and, unlike Vietnam, not stimulative economically speaking."  Thank you very much.

According to the Motley Fool (in this case, Tom  Hutchinson), "about 45% of economists believe we are in the midst of a recession (including guys like Warren  Buffett)."  Thank you very much.  

The Chicago Tribune says today that consumer confidence plummeted to a five-year low in March. Thank you very much.  

And a recent survey of 19 states with some form of legalized gambling found that about half saw gross revenue and admissions drop. Thank you very much.

And now the bottomline (for those of you like me who have no idea what to believe anymore): "We are here on this Earth to fart around.  Don't let anyone tell you any different."  Kurt Vonnegut*.  Thank you very much.

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