Dumb and Dumber Economists
(00:00.682)
Now I’m not making this one up. This is a Wall Street Journal story. And I’m filing this under dumb and dumber as far as economists are concerned. Harry and Lloyd, Harry and Lloyd, it won’t be a recession. It will just feel like one. Is that kind of like when people talk about Arizona and the heat and they say, but it’s a dry heat?
Is that how this thing works? The good news is the probability of a recession is down sharply. This is according to top men. Yes, Wall Street Journal’s latest survey of economists. The bad news is that for a lot of people, it’s still going to feel like a recession.
(01:01.234)
this down for everybody here. Recessions, they have these quote, unquote, high priests of the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge. And they’re the ones that make the call. They’re the ones that make the call. Whenever I think about this, I think I’m wearing almost NFL referee uniforms. And they’re doing a look at their instant replay, trying to figure out where they had it.
We did have not too long ago, two quarters in a row of negative economic growth, which normally, ah, that was a recession, two quarters of negative economic growth in a row, but they didn’t call it. No, they did not. They didn’t call it. They’re saying that probably won’t happen, but the reality is that most people are going to feel like they’re interested.
Here’s the news flash, most of America has been feeling that way for some time. Most of America has been feeling that way for some time, in case you hadn’t noticed. Again, I know you economists, a lot of you guys work on colleges and universities, and colleges and universities pretty much, especially for the undergrads, it’s like a four-year carnival cruise. All right, let’s call it what it is. You have no idea what goes on in the real world.
Oh, I’m sure you get your numbers and your statistics and you speak to your other economists at other places and your algorithms, but most of you couldn’t run a lemonade stand and you know it. So yeah, this is the big insight. Don’t worry everybody. Everything’s gonna be fine. Not gonna be a recession. It’s just gonna feel like we’re in one. Watchdog on wallstreet.com.