Friday, April 29, 2016

1st Q US GDP: Right for the wrong reasons

1st quarter US GDP was reported at +0.5% yesterday, which is weak but still positive. This graphic from the WSJ shows that consumer spending on services, residential investment, and state and local government have accounted for more than all the increase.



Here is are some factoids from the "Contributions to Percent Change" table of the BEA press release:



Without the housing bubble (thanks, Fed), Obamacare, and government spending, 1st Q GDP would have been down .82% This does not seem like a productive economy to me, or am I missing something?

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