Oh, and by the way

Of course we're in a recession.

A recession, by definition, occurs when the economy slows down. In other words, less money is being spent today than was spent yesterday.

So look at the facts:

1) Recent economic growth was spurred by ballooning consumer debt. In other words, we were buying things with money that we don't have.

2) Lending money to people who don't have any money and expecting it to be repaid with interest, carries a fair amount of risk.

3) Banks need to grow revenues in order to appease shareholders, meaning they needed to find more consumers to whom they could extend credit. Since they'd already lent to the strong customers, now they needed to lend to those with less financial security. This adds risk.

4) Eventually all that risk came back to bite the banks in the ass, and the loans stop being repaid, creating losses.

5) Shareholders don't like losses, therefore the banks needed to stop the losses. This was done by no longer extending risky credit.

6) Consumers now have less access to money that they don't have, (and besides, with rising unemployment and falling 401(k)'s, now seems like a good time to hang on to cash), therefore they are buying less things.

7) Ergo, we're in a recession.

But don't worry. Soon enough people will have contracted their household spending to more manageable levels, then they will start spending more. Spending doesn't have to grow by a lot to get out of a recession, it just has to grow. That's why these things usually only last a few months.

For a somewhat less rosy outlook on the future of the US economy, check out this article in the fall issue of the secessionist rag, the Vermont Commons.

Hey, this is the second post of the evening. (Better than watching the Sox right now. EDIT - Spoke too soon!) Keep reading!