It's Official: The U.S. Economy is in Recession

U.S. recession began in December 2007, NBER says

Here's the full text from this morning's WSJ Market Watch article:

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. economy entered a recession in December 2007, a committee of economists at the private National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday. The economy reached a peak in December and has been declining since, according to the business cycle dating committee of the NBER. The committee does not judge a recession as two consecutive quarterly declines in gross domestic product; rather, it looks at four key monthly economic indicators, including employment, industrial output and sales. Employment peaked in December.

Our first reaction? Tell us something we didn't already know. And yes, it's obviously been affecting the local economy for some time now. All that's necessary to arrive at this conclusion is to look through the rear-view mirror:

• Adam Aircraft Abortion
• Ogden Midtown Hotel/Waterpark Mis-step
• Ben Lomond Bankruptcy
• Leshem River Project Washout
• Windsor Hotel Wilt

And not to be overlooked is this:

• The "Junction" Taxpayer Money Pit

So now that we have this information, how will the Emerald City administration respond? Will Boss Godfrey pare down his big-spending plans, now we have proof that we've been swimming against the national economic current for the last year or so? Will our city government adopt a new philosophy of financial prudence, and "sit out" the grand planning and scheming, at least until the economy eventually begins to recover? Will our city council finally decide to accumulate a rainy day fund, just in case the recession is especially deep and protracted? Will knuckleheaded projects like the Ice Tower, the Velodrome and the Golf Course Makeover find their way to the Emerald City back-burner?

So many questions... so few answers.

Comments, anyone?