Economist are Bullish or Full of BS on the Economy in 2011

Do not buy the rubbish that the economy is going strong. The economist from Northwestern University explained it very well why things look temporary positive. We are fools to believe we are on the road to recover if we have high unemployment, needing to extend unemployment benefits for 3 consectutive years, states going into financial crisis, and the devaluation of the dollar. Keep in mind that the stock market can make money whether it is in the bear or bull market.

(New York Times) WASHINGTON — Eighteen months after the recession officially ended, the government’s latest measures to bolster the economy have led many forecasters and policy makers to express new optimism that the recovery will gain substantial momentum in 2011.

Economists in universities and on Wall Street have raised their growth projections for next year. Retail sales, industrial production and factory orders are on the upswing, and new claims for unemployment benefits are trending downward.

Despite persistently high unemployment, consumer confidence is improving. Large corporations are reporting healthy profits, and the Dow Jones industrial average reached a two-year high this week.

But......

Robert J. Gordon, an economist at Northwestern University and a member of the committee that sets the start and end dates of business cycles, cautioned against excessive optimism, noting the huge burdens on state and local governments, rising costs of health care and other long-run fiscal challenges. “The rise of the stock market is mainly because there are no other good investments in sight, not because the stock market has some unique talent in predicting what’s wrong with the economy.”