Just in time for the holidays, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER for the uninitiated) announced that the U.S. economy has been in a recession for the past year. I have to smile as I sip my morning super charged espresso. Is this really news? This is not news to working people around the world. We knew this when we went to the gas pumps, the grocery store, and paid our bills. The price of everything was steadily going up and so was unemployment and mortgage foreclosure. So yes, Virginia, just like the old story about Santa, we finally learn there is a Recession!
I’m reading my NY Times as a deep fog settles around Los Angeles. I’m a prisoner of the fog blanketing the city, just as the world is a prisoner of this recession. At least the NYT tells me that officials are going to try to do everything they can to help. I’ll try to take some comfort in that.
So, does anything change with this news? I think not. The holidays are still upon us, Christmas is coming and Recessionistas are getting ready. We’ll just shop wisely, live frugally, and hope for the best. I’m re-reading the old NY Sun editorial article about the spirit of Santa and continuing to have hope. In the words of Francis Church, “as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist” we need to continue to have hope and believe in the holiday spirit. After all the news of the Recession, is not really news. It’s just a pronouncement of a condition we already knew existed. We’ve already adjusted to it and are making the appropriate lifestyle changes. That’s why Black Friday was a success this year, despite all the naysayers. So is the Recession really news? Ba-Humbug, time to go to work and refill my coffee.
