NY Times: "Welcome to the Recovery," by Tim Geithner

From NYTimes, "Welcome to the Recovery" by Timmy Geithner

THE devastation wrought by the great recession is still all too real for millions of Americans who lost their jobs, businesses and homes. [E]very new economic report brings another wave of anxiety... but a review of recent data on the American economy shows that we are on a path back to growth.

"We are on a path back to growth." Got it!

The recession...was extraordinarily severe, but the actions we took at its height to stimulate the economy helped arrest the freefall, preventing an even deeper collapse and putting the economy on the road to recovery.

"Actions we took...helped arrest the freefall. Prevented an even deeper collapse. We put the economy on the road to recovery." That's so amazingly wonderful to hear!

[L]arge parts of the private sector continue to strengthen. Business investment and consumption...are getting stronger, better than last year and better than last quarter.... [B]usiness capital spending increased at a solid annual rate of about 17 percent.

Check. Fabulous work!

Private job growth has returned — not as fast as we would like, but at an earlier stage of this recovery than in the last two recoveries.

Okay, that's enough of this horseshit. The quoted article was published almost exactly one year ago. How's that recovery working out for ya now, Sparky? Unemployment still at 9.2%, is it? Consumer spending flat to slightly down. Killer new EPA regulation of electric powerplants forecast to trigger double-digit hikes in electricity rates in six months.

That's one amazin' recovery.

Another time-honored metric is job creation. The economy needs to create a net of between 200,000 and 250,000 jobs per month just to keep up with birth rate and immigration (both legal and illegal). In May a net of 18,000 jobs were added (revised down to that after an initial report two or three times higher).

June was even worse: a net of just 12,000 jobs added. By any measure, a disaster.

Timmy, you keep saying "Private job growth has returned" but clearly you don't mean that job growth is reducing unemployment, but just that the nation added some jobs.

You must think we're too stupid to notice the difference.

That's okay, Sparky--you and your boss just keep talking out of your ass like that and you'll convince everyone out here that happy days are here again.