Last quarter was a respectable period for growth at 3.4% which jumps out compared to the limp 0.6% in Q1. The big question now is the direction through the end of the year. With the lending market falling apart thanks to complete mismanagement by both the Fed and the GOP Congress who built the flimsy mess, there is strong reason to believe Q2 was an aberration and the economy will continue to be soft as corporate lending also tightens and consumers - faced with lending problems such as an inability to take generous loans against their housing loan - will remain fight with their purse. A third option may also exist.
Both figures tend to misrepresent the overall trajectory of the economy, and economists said a more accurate picture lay between the two. And that suggests that real growth has still not returned to the roughly 3 percent rate that economists consider healthy and sustainable without feeding into higher inflation.
Main & gay blog