The “R” Word: Issue Pulse on the Recession

March 13, 2008

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According to President Bush, the country is not in a recession. “There’s a definition of the ‘R’ word” and we haven’t reached the definition,” President Bush told Susie Gharib of PBS’s Nightly Business Report on Wednesday.

But everyone else seems willing to call a spade a spade. The economy is either in a recession or will be at some point during 2008, said three quarters of the CFOs surveyed in a Duke University/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook assessment.

“Today, not only do the CFOs say we are already in recession; they predict a prolonged economic downturn. The news from CFOs is pretty grim,” said John Graham, the Duke professor who directed the survey. “Our survey started showing evidence of an economic slowdown a year ago.”

And Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and the so called "Sage of Omaha," said almost two weeks ago that “from a common sense standpoint right now, we’re in a recession.”

Everyday Americans, of course, recognize the problems facing our economy, as CAP found in a recent survey of people on the street. Watch the video:

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfvZHIFkmyw

It’s time for President Bush, his administration, and his fellow conservatives in Congress to acknowledge the consequences of their economic policies. After all, the American people already have.