The recession is over?

The recession ended in June ’09. You must now make your desired purchases and
quickly spread the word before the November elections: It’s over. Wow, we are
finally out of the recession.

What does it mean to say we are out of a recession? Well the National Bureau of
Economic Research (NBER) claims that it ended in June of 2009. There is clearly
something wrong in an economy that is more than a year out of the recession,
but in which the quality of life for individuals continues to diminish.

One thing NBER has accurately noted is that although we are out of a recession,
it may take years before the economy returns to normal. Present Obama defended
himself in his town hall meeting earlier this week, pointing out the obvious: that
the economy is still not healthy. Yet he believes he is guiding it in the right
direction.

My question is on the empirical evidence used to measure a recession. At what
point do official numbers begin to look at the lives of those living in this
country?

If Wall Street is growing because of salary decreases, massive layoffs and
corporate restructuring, then growth for the average American is anything but
authentic. Of course investors are attracted to financial growth on the Street,
but at what cost?

Although we are out of a recession, I’m also fearful of the future of
legislation that was passed and is being proposed by this administration. Yes,
our government may be spending a lot of American hard-earned cash to keep the
economy from sinking, but isn’t this all superficial because one day this is
all going to catch up with us?

Armstrong Williams is on Sirius/XM Power 169 from 7-8 p.m. and 4-5 a.m., Monday
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