US Imaginary GDP

Submitted by Chris Ducret on Thu, 01/30/2020 - 18:25
Chris Ducret

The headlines are out. GDP last year (2019) @ 2.3%.  Slowed from 2.9% in 2018 and below the White House goal of 3%.  Going back in time to August 2018, the US government changed how GDP is calculated.  The articles by The Guardian and Seeking Alpha gets into the details of the new calculation. Which adds 3% to the US GDP.

Applying the calculation prior to 2013, anything you have seen that is <3% means the US has been at negative GDP.  Good luck in trying to figure it out, they applied the new calculation all the way back to 1929. 

I guess rather than addressing difficult problems, just lie about it.  They are protected from it, but We the people are not. So feet need to be firmly planted in reality.

Heidi Moore sums it up

This chaotic mess of financial reporting will now be part of our national measure of economic health. What could possibly go wrong?

Followed by Seeking Alpha's Katcum's insight 

The 3% increase in GDP will be imaginary, but I predict that the mainstream media will probably tout that the economy is improving and stocks (NYSEARCA:DIA) will react positively on this coming news. The decay in the underlying U.S. economy however, has not subsided.