And now, an era of irrational pessimism [aka: goo-goo economics]

THE most important number concerning the U.S. economy is also the least discussed one in this week's panic over the U.S. economy - 4.9 percent. That is the current rate of growth in the economy as measured by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That is the growth for the third quarter 2007.

Far from being in a recession, as defined by two consecutive quarters in which gross domestic product contracts, the American economy is growing.

Preliminary results for the fourth quarter will not be released for another week. I seriously doubt the growth continued at that rate. But my bet is that the economy grew in the months of October, November and December 2007. Retail sales in December were up.

The politicians in Washington are saying that we have to avoid a slowdown in the economy. That is absurd. A $14 trillion economy does not need 4.9 percent annual growth to succeed. As long as growth outpaces inflation, no one in Washington should care. And even if it does not, Washington should mind its own business. It has done enough damage already.

But the view from Washington is that the American people are all a bunch of children who need to be protected and baby-fed rebates and the like in order to survive.

It is goo-goo economics.

The media does not help. With the war going well in Iraq, news people are looking for bad news. And bad economic news is easy to find. There is always someone who "cannot" pay his bills. Someone is always losing his job. Someone's business always fails. But the science of economics deals with macro numbers, and those are being ignored. Why?

http://dailymail.com/Opinion/DonSurber/200801240035