Recession Wednesday

• Author: Kyle Kutuchief
• Filed under: Uncategorized
• Date: Apr 30,2008

Today, the Bureau of Economic Analysis will provide a summary with its preliminary estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) for the first quarter of 2008. According to Forbes.com: "Two consecutive quarters of GDP decline are an indicator of recession, but ultimately the technical distinction matters little: The news of the past months already tells the story." The article goes on to site a variety of economic indicators including a decline in the consumer confidence index to 62.3 down from 65.9 in March and an increase in unemployment to 5.1% up from 4.8% in March. Let's look at how the unemployment numbers in some Ohio cities compared:

Number for March
State of Ohio - 5.7% unemployment
Summit County - 5.8% unemployment
Dayton - 6.7% unemployment
Canton - 7.6% unemployment
Youngstown - 7.8% unemployment
Cleveland - 7.8% unemployment
Toledo - 7.9% unemployment

As this national report comes out today, keep in mind that we live in one of the hardest hit parts of the country.

John McCain has said before that the economy isn't a strong issue for him. In fact, he has explicitly said that "his process of leadership" is to delegate on economic issues. Here is a telling exchange between Ron Paul and Senator McCain which illustrates McCain's hands off approach to the economy.

After this Democratic Primary is over, voters in places like Ohio are going to ask themselves is they are better off today then they were four or eight years ago. The few who say yes will vote for McCain. The majority who says no will vote for change and put a Democrat in the White House.