THE NEW NORMAL - WHY ANY RECOVERY WILL BE PAINFULLY SLOW

Think for a second about where our economic growth came from over the last 10 years or so. We know that consumers have been the primary drivers for the US economy. Because we now manufacture and export little of anything (and far less going forward with the implosion of the auto industry), the only reason our economy has been able to grow has been tied to consumerism....the things that we buy on a daily basis. In fact, government statistics tell us that over 70% of our gross domestic product (DGP) now comes from our own purchases. You don't have to be an economist to figure out that this is not a sustainable trend. A country that continues to produce smaller and smaller amounts of exportable products is doomed in the long run, and in the short run can only expect sluggish growth at best. On top of this, consumers are now turning into savers, something that is a big positive long term, but also something that the Obama people mus...