According to Clive Crook of The Financial Times in this commentary, there is little room for optimism when one considers the current state of the US economy and the very few policy options available to the Federal Reserve or the next president.
Crook places much of the responsibility for current economic conditions on poor policy decisions made over the past eight years, a period which began with a sizeable budget surplus (2.4% of GDP), and which could end with a budget deficit amounting to 5% of GDP. What does Crook foresee? Recession, higher unemployment and inflation ....
One is reminded of the boy who slipped on a pile of manure and came up smiling.
"How can you be so happy at a time like this?" asked an onlooker.
"Well," said the boy, "with all this manure piled up, there just has to be a pony here somewhere!"
The challenge, of course, is to find the pony amidst the ... current state of the economy.
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