U.S. Economy: Pulling growth out of their stinky butts

Everybody can take off early today and go out to celebrate the grand new economy. We'll soon be getting those raises we haven't seen in several years, and all those people who've been unemployed finally have something to look forward to:

U.S. Economy: Growth Accelerates as Consumers Spend More - Businessweek: "Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter at the fastest pace in a year as Americans reduced savings to boost purchases and companies stepped up investment in equipment and software.

Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at a 2.5 percent annual rate, up from 1.3 percent in the prior three months, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Household purchases, the biggest part of the economy, increased at a 2.4 percent pace, more than forecast by economists."

As usual, we have this huge uptick in consumer spending, at the same time consumer sentiment is in the tank. And home sales are up, even though home prices went down over 4 percent. What the hell is going on here?

If the figures aren't fudged, what miracle explains these contradictory phenomena? The economy can't be riding the up and down escalators at the same time, yet these figures seem to suggest this is the case.

Euphoria is also ascribed to Europe supposedly solving its debt crisis. This was only done through a variety of dubious agreements that still must be put into effect with money the Europeans don't have. They talk about billions of Euros as if its nothing -- and perhaps it is nothing. Still, it's enough to make it appear, for the moment at least, that Europe at least has the will to solve its problems.

What's lacking is the way...

The US is also whistling past the graveyard. There is no plan to put people back to work. Government action on the economy is limited to trying to bolster up the TBTF banks, since the only interests that really count are those of the obscenely wealthy -- which depend primarily on their investments. Investors and stockholders, hedge fund managers, bankers -- they're the ones who pay for the political campaigns, so theirs are the voices that are heard.