Economic Downturn

"The economic downturn, which started in the handful of states where the housing market was in the worst shape, is spreading to almost every corner of the country and to a wide variety of industries, according to a Federal Reserve report released yesterday.

The trouble is showing up in such disparate ways as weaker demand for staffing services in New England, lower trucking volume in Ohio and surrounding states, and a resistance to spending money on capital projects by financial institutions on the West Coast.

That assessment is based on the "beige book," a compilation of anecdotes from businesses around the country gathered by the Fed's 12 regional banks. The previous report, in the middle of January, found signs of weakness in certain states and industries but described a U.S. economy that was generally holding up."

Economic Downturn Expands Countrywide
By Neil Irwin
Thursday, March 6, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/05/AR2008030501053.html

The economic downturn and the media's reporting on it are key to my current work. This is one of the few media articles I could find that did not try to lay blame on any political party or person. It seems to be reporting the facts in numbers and quoting actual economists. I think the media should be focused on these numbers, as they affect us all. However a majority of media outlets seem to focus on assigning blame and making it seem worse than it is. It is a free market, as long as the fed's keep out. A free market must have fluctuations up and down, but downturns are only lengthened by government intervention. Another recent article was released citing the New Deal and how it prolonged the Great Depression for 7 years longer than it should have lasted.


Slideshow available here