Well, duh!

I am an avid listener to NPR: All things Considered, Morning Edition, Marketplace, each has a place in my daily commute to and from work. Yesterday it was reported that "Thus-and-Such-Important-Agency has just announced that the economy is in recession." The next few moments were filled with the various "reactions" to the news that the economy is in a recession.


My immediate response was "DUH!!!" I know that we have been going through tough economic times--God knows my pittance of a retirement account has shrunk like George in the ocean, but for weeks, and by weeks I mean 52 of them, Kai Risdol on Marketplace has been saying, "...and that is another sign that we might be in a recession." It almost became a running joke, a la Jeff Foxworthy, to see how we "might be in a recession."

So if we have been saying "a sign of a recession" and have known in our heart of hearts that we really are in a recession then why did the stock market "react to the news." Sometimes I just wonder if we blame the rise and fall on the stocks on random and unrelated events. "This just in Katie Couric is wearing a blue dress, stocks fall 200 points in reaction to her choice." We need to get a grip and stop trying to make our fortunes on the trading of intangible suppositions of possibility.



I have some slightly used wishes and some dented dreams for sale, if anyone is interested.



Until next time,



M