[BfloGuy]

Though the "annualizing" of quarterly GDP numbers is scandalous [even the Europeans don't go that far], I cannot see how this guy arrives at a negative GDP growth rate. It's bad enough that the quarterly rate is really just a shade over 1/4%.

That's statistical noise. A rounding error is more significant.

And, besides, GDP is a worthless indicator of economic growth. Capital growth alone leads to economic growth. Consumer spending and government spending are interesting figures to look at but they don't build new factories or hire new employees.

[central_va]

When you consider that GDP includes govt. deficit spending, real GDP is really negative 3 or 4%.