If the number is 1.8% then the US economy is in actuality contracting. With total US GDP at about $16 trillion and with the FED pumping in $1 trillion/yr via ‘liquidity(QE3&4)’ this $1 trillion amounts to around 6% of total GDP. If every dollar injected is spent, by theory the US should be seeing ‘growth’ of close to 6%/yr. What happened to that 4.2%? I maintain this liquidity injection is masking contraction.
Fed pumping is helping the Asian economies, 2nd quarter growth in The Philippines is 7.5% or 4x that of the US.