A report has come out today showing that the U.S. economy grew by 2.5% over the third quarter of the year, which was great news since the spending was on durable manufacturing goods like refrigerators and cars. Does this mean that the recession is over?
No.
But, it does mean that after tightening their belts for so long many Americans have just resigned to spending money on necessities. It’s like when you were just out of college and were living on Ramen noodles for weeks on end and finally said to hell with this and went to Outback Steakhouse with your friends to drop $40.00 on some dry tasting ribs and watered down drinks. At some point you stop trying to scrimp and save and start trying to live a little. The long term implications of this report aren’t clear since if the Debt Super Committee results in more government jobs getting cut, and if other layoffs continue to slow growth then this may only be a blip. However, no worries: the Obama Administration will definitely spin this as a positive sign of things to come. Now, who wants Outback?!
This article originally appeared at Politic365.com.