thevicenarian.com

Know Your Economy

Posted by T.W. Hanson - Feb 3rd, 2008 at 11:02

In the past few weeks, politicians and pundits have been making strong statements about the state of the United States economy. The Federal Reserve and Congress are planning significant action to remedy the threat of a recession. What does this mean for you? We cannot know with certainty, but there are some likely effects of recent events. Uncertainty always exists about the future, especially in the realm of economics. What we know is that $600 checks in the mail, lower savings rates and lower student loan rates all affect you. We also know that economic statistics are framing the current discussion about policy and providing a window into the economic health of America. Therefore, to speak intelligently about the economy, to know what is reality and what is spin from the presidential candidates, to understand who is funding the $600 check coming from the government, you need to know your economic statistics.

GDP, non-farm payrolls, new home sales, unemployment rates, jobless claims, exports, imports are all examples of numbers offering insights into parts of the economy. They are reported on specific dates and set times. Over the past week, some high profile figures have been released. These numbers showed the U.S. economy slowing in the fourth quarter, what sectors of the economy hired and fired people and whether the manufacturing sector expanded or contracted. One goal of this site is to offer explanations of these data in the turbulent economic times ahead. Hopefully, this will add a new dimension to your thoughts about the state of the American economy, proper government policies and personal economic security.