[Toddsterpatriot]

The doomers can celebrate.

[Toddsterpatriot]

Willie Green was right (just 7 years late)!

Ping!

[Slapshot68]

Leave it to CNN to sound so giddy about it.

[MeanGreen2008]

The NBER is a private group of leading economists... So, it's not really "official" is it?

[Texas_shutterbug]

Stating the obvious is news?

[1rudeboy]

Actually, we've been in a recession since 1961. The reason no one can tell is because we've been alternating between recession and depression.
/doomer

[mysterio]

We had better print some money and nationalize a few more corporations instead of letting the markets work. Oh, and outsource a few thousand more jobs. Because that strategy is making our economy really kick a**.

[CSM]

Heck, we gotta be able to blame everything that Obama screws up on GWB, so let’s redefine words......

[syl799]

already one year of recession

How long do recessions last usually?

It will probably end when Obama becomes president in January or soon after that so people can say that he ended the recession. That’s gonna be a good point for him for the 2012 election (sarcasm).

[lonestar67]

We are not in a recession.

We will not be in a recession until Obama takes office.

We have had one quarter of negative GDP. We won’t now the next quarter until Obama.

Ha ha.

[SIDENET]

We've only been in a recession of HOPE.

/s

[hugorand]

This is pure crap. A recession has always been defined as a negative GDP for two or more consecutive quarters.

[Perdogg]

We had growth in the second quarter of 2008. Therefore no recession.

[madison10]

I knew that, actually think it started November 2007.

[FrankR]

"The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is a private, nonprofit research organization dedicated to studying the science and empirics of economics, especially the American economy. It is "committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community." It publishes NBER Working Papers and books. The NBER is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts with branch offices in Palo Alto, California, and New York City."

California, Massachusetts, New York City...all blue states.

And it's "official"?

Now, a blue, liberal state company wouldn't have any vested interest in making it look like a recession started a year ago, just to make Bush the scapegoat for obama...would they?

[Deo volente]

By the end of next year, we’re going to wish we were ONLY in a recession.

Economic Rescue could cost $8.5 trillion:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-fi-pricetag30-2008nov30,0,5544291.story?page=1

[Mase]

Let the Obama Recovery™ begin. LOL

[Dallas59]

Will Hussein save us...or sauce us?

[kidd]

The NBER is a private group of leading economists charged with dating the start and end of economic downturns

Exactly who "charged" them with this task and why did they choose to use an unconventional definition?

===

The Kidd Institute is a rival private group of leading experts, also charged with dating the start and end of economic downturns.

Mr. Kidd, the founder of the Institute, disputes the arbitrary choice of the benchmark used by NBER and believes that it is politically motivated. "NBER clearly believes that Obama is not going to pull the economy out of its doldrums and that he will need reasons to blame the current president," said Mr. Kidd. "Establishing a date that was deep within the Bush presidency adds credibility to the blame game. However, the most commonly accepted definition of a recession, that is one that has two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth, shows that the recession will begin during the pending Obama administration."

[CodeToad]

For a recession there has been few layoffs other than the obvious financial sector, some prices have increased but others have dropped, and spending still seems to be as heavy as any year. This seems like a fairly light recession.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

LOL!

As if CNN would know.