The United States is Already in a Recession

The hot topic lately has been the United States and recession. So many analysts insist that because we are not in the definitive sense of a recession, that therefore the word should not even be mentioned. However, a recession is subjective; because although there may be a de facto definition for recession, the pain felt by American citizens is tangible and measurable in the price increases of every day life. When considering that, the definition of a recession has little or no meaning to it.

But another interesting point is that the way the government releases numbers that reflect inflation statistics, the CPI or consumer price index, are considered universally to be doctored in a way that underplays the severity of the state of the economy. In fact, independent statistics sources claim that real inflation in 2008 is actually well above 10%, and may rise above an incredible 20% in the year 2009! Furthermore, the way in which CPI is measured was changed only a few years ago by the Clinton administration. It is completely different from the way it was measured when it was invented. If the formula for measuring a recession changes, what is the point of keeping track of it? The definition can repeatedly be changed so that there will never be an official recession!

If you've been following the news items over the past few months, you'll have noticed a subtle way analysts arguments have changed from whether or not a country is headed for a recession to how deep of a recession the country will eventually be in. This change of opinion is a small way to notice the skewed opinions of commentators and what information they want to spread. It seems in the American media nothing is admitted until it is undeniable, and so many problems have resulted from officials who ignored warning signs and attempted to dispel problems by simply convincing people to was nothing to worry about.

Now with the impending bailout for Wall Street, the talk of recession has once again been set ablaze. Interestingly politicians have tried to use the threat of recession to scare Congress into passing bills to bailout large investment banks. Many of these are the same people who are insisting the country would not face a recession or would only face a "minor" or "brief" recession.

Understanding where to get your news sources is the most important thing in finding reliable information especially concerning government statistics and forward-looking predictions. And that in uncertain times and few who report on news stories do so with unbiased perspectives.