Posted on 01/21/2016 9:29:53 AM PST by Citizen Zed
Will a storm threatening to drop a foot or more of snow on Washington, Philadelphia and other East Coast cities put a winter chill on the U.S. economy for a third straight year? It's unlikely.
Unseasonably cold winters the last two years caused the U.S. economy to get off to a frosty start in 2014 and 2015. The economy contracted at a 0.9% seasonally adjusted annual pace during the first three months of 2014 and limped along at 0.6% growth to begin 2015. Both readings were among the weakest quarterly performances of what's been a mostly lackluster recovery.
But an emerging snow threat this week is unlikely to present a serious headwind to the economy this year. (Not to say that suffering financial markets, China's downward spiral, and a free-fall in oil prices won't.)
For one, the timing of the storm alone, expected to hit the Washington area Friday evening into Saturday, will limit the impact.
"Though the storm will disrupt millions of lives, the timing is good from an economic perspective," Moody's Analytics economist Ryan Sweet said Wednesday. "Its greatest impact will likely occur over the weekend, minimizing the amount of lost output."
The region expected to be affected by the storm produces about $16 billion in a daily economic output. But since many businesses and the federal government are, for the most part, already closed on the weekends, the storm shouldn't result in a dramatic increase in lost wages or consumption tied to workers' daily routines. What's more, on the East Coast, this winter has been warmer than typical and relatively storm-free.
"Unusually high temperatures, particularly in December, likely boosted fourth-quarter GDP growth in the order of a few tenths of a percentage point," Mr. Sweet said.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
Yeah, that’s the ticket. Blizzards are the reason why we’ve had no economic growth for the past three years.
*facepalm*
Is Obama’s nickname “blizzard”?
Already lining up another excuse for the failing Obama economy?
I hope it freezes Washington in until Obama is out of office.
Damn that global warming!
Do these people actually believe this crap? The entire US economy is in the crapper year after year because... we started having winter all of a sudden?
Maybe they are possessed by aliens....
I’m living in some kind of sci-fi horror freak show.
What growth?
Can I ask a stupid question? Why is it that before Obama, we never heard reports that economic slowdown or other problems happened due to weather???
I get the impression that in the Era of Obama, that nothing can ever be blamed on the policies or laws passed under Obama, and that every negative thing which happens will be blamed on some outside force. Weather seems a convenient scapegoat since none of us, not even the powerful Obama, can control weather.
I remember when the summers were cold!
Cold weather destroys the economy, and is the result of global warming, so we should all hate ourselves, pay crippling taxes as penance and vote forever Democrat. Got it.
Fricking incredible.
This is another example why the WSJ is in bed with Obama and the rats.
So we can blame Gorebull warming for the economic failure of leadership from Obama/Jarrett.
Yes.
A blizzard of taxes, a blizzard of regulations, a blizzard of lawsuits, a blizzard of crime...
Or Hell freezes over for a year!
How weak is the economy when a single snowstorm can eliminate growth for the entire year?
How can a blizzard cause economic distress?
According to obama and the feds, “climate change” will flood us and fry us at the same time.
I thought snow and winter were supposed to be extinct by now? We just had the “hottest year on record” last year, according to the “experts”.
Snow is white, so blizzards must be racist. That’s what the won will decree. Blame whitey and frosty and old man winter.
This is just BS. Winter weather slows down some sectors of the economy every year. And most years there will be blizzards in some parts of the US. And most of what output might be lost due to weather is made up with extra hours and days of work once the weather improves.
How could we have unseasonally cold winters the last three years, when they announced that 2015 was the warmest year on record? I guess all the snow and cold last Jan, Feb and Mar didn’t count or could it be we are being lied to?
Isn’t this the same excuse the Soviets used for 74 years? Oh wait . . .
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