Economy

Chart of the Day

The economy is growing and the Republican presidential candidates are lying about it. Via Steve Benen from his new place at Maddow Blog the latest GDP numbers in context:

Benen notes:

It's important to realize, though, that 2.8% growth is hardly a breakthrough or evidence of a robust recovery. Under normal conditions, a figure like this would suggest the economy was fairly healthy and growing at a steady pace, but therein lies the point: these are not normal conditions. Given the severity of the Great Recession, and how much ground there is to make up, we'd much prefer to see a significantly higher number.

And we won't see that higher number until businesses begin to spend the trillions of dollars they're holding in cash reserves.