There was no surprise with the announced third-quarter GDP for the U.S. economy (+3.5%), however, there was some personal disappointment for me. The disappointment relates to the fact that few, if any, commentators were willing to speak up and exclaim that “the emperor is wearing no clothes.” The reason that this is such a big disappointment is that the “official” number for U.S. Q3 GDP cannot withstand the slightest analytical scrutiny. So, allow me to analytically dissect this obviously fraudulent number. Let's start with the big picture. At the end of 2008, official GDP was -6.4%. This was also likely...