A key forecasting gauge of future U.S. economic activity fell for a fifth straight month in October, a private research group said on Thursday.Just think how bad it would be if we weren't recovering.
The Conference Board said its index of leading indicators fell 0.3 percent in October to 115.1, a fifth straight monthly decline. The index fell by a matching 0.3 percent in both September and August. The September figure was downwardly revised from a previously reported drop of 0.1 percent.
"A fifth straight decline in the leading indicators is a clear signal that the economy is losing steam, and may start off 2005 with a relatively weak pace of economic activity," Conference Board economist Ken Goldstein said in a statement.
Wall Street economists surveyed by Reuters had expected a more modest decline in October of 0.1 percent.
More from Bill in DC
Looks like the last round of massive tax cuts for the wealthy just wasn't enough. Obviously we need more and bigger tax cuts for the wealthy to get the economy back on track (except, that is, for residents of Blue States with high state taxes supporting high levels of government services, who are going to get hit with the elimination of the deduction for state and local income taxes). In fact, to get the economy moving again we need to eliminate taxes on investment income and shove as much of the burden as possible on wage-earners. Most of them are too cheerfully ignorant to realize what's happening to them, anyway; if they do show some flicker of mental activity, we can just appeal to their "values."
And while we're at it, why don't we slip in some pork when we raise the debt ceiling? That should help the economy, too. After all, no one will have a chance to read the legislation before it's enacted.
Fortunately we don't need to worry about adding to the deficit by cutting taxes on the wealthy or constructing unneeded dams on the Mississippi. After all, Reagan showed that deficits don't matter.
Looks like the last round of massive tax cuts for the wealthy just wasn't enough. Obviously we need more and bigger tax cuts for the wealthy to get the economy back on track (except, that is, for residents of Blue States with high state taxes supporting high levels of government services, who are going to get hit with the elimination of the deduction for state and local income taxes). In fact, to get the economy moving again we need to eliminate taxes on investment income and shove as much of the burden as possible on wage-earners. Most of them are too cheerfully ignorant to realize what's happening to them, anyway; if they do show some flicker of mental activity, we can just appeal to their "values."
ReplyDeleteAnd while we're at it, why don't we slip in some pork when we raise the debt ceiling? That should help the economy, too. After all, no one will have a chance to read the legislation before it's enacted.
Fortunately we don't need to worry about adding to the deficit by cutting taxes on the wealthy or constructing unneeded dams on the Mississippi. After all, Reagan showed that deficits don't matter.
Bill in DC