Biden admin planning to define away ‘recession’ if GDP declines a second straight quarter: Playing word games to deny the obvious

American Thinker ^ | 07/25/2022 | Thomas Lifson

[SeekAndFind]

 Don’t worry about a recession. The Biden administration looks to be planning to deny that one is underway, even if Thursday’s scheduled GDP report shows a second straight quarter of decline in economic activity. They will just reject the commonly held standard and rely on a “holistic” evaluation of economic activity.

The commonly held definition of 2 straight quarters of falling GDP is so pervasive that even Google features it (for now) at the top of the page when searching for a definition of recession/

Jacqui Heinrich of Fox News spotted the sign of the plan to define away the problem in a July 21 White House document:

Bracing for impact: Even if Thursday's GDP report shows a second consecutive quarter of negative growth, you won't hear the Biden admin using the R-word.

The Council of Economic Advisers is redefining what a recession is...🤔

https://t.co/HHBYJKqP5V pic.twitter.com/gecR93vPPj — Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) July 24, 2022

To be sure, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), which is officially given the responsibility of declaring a recession, doesn’t use the 2 straight quarters of declining GDP as its standard.

A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales. 

So, the NBER has flexibility in deciding when the dreaded label of recession is applied. But as Heinrich reminds us, they are not always timely when invoking the label:

Yellen: There's an org called the National Bureau of Economic Research that looks at a broad range of data...I will be would be amazed if the NBER would declare this period to be a recession

[SeekAndFind]

So don’t worry. The Biden administration will play word games to deny the obvious economic decline that it has foisted upon the nation.

The tactic is the same: define away the problem.

After all, if you can redefine gender to anything you like, or use the word "racist" or call someone this phobe and that phobe, redefining another commonly understood word should be a breeze.

[From The Deer Stand]

Now if Trump was president the media would be proclaiming the nation’s financial sky was falling due to his incompetence (and mean Tweets).

[butlerweave]

They got away with definition changes with their deadly fake vaccine so now they’ll never stop

[stormhill]

That’s real clever. Now if they wanted to be really useful let them redefine “broke” after I fill my tank.

[ComputerGuy]

Damn the maths. Full speed ahead.

[Mark]

After the 6th quarter of declines, blame Putin.

[DannyTN]

[Roadrunner383]

Biden shill Janet Yellen will be trotted out to explain why the recession isn’t really a recession. It would be funny if someone asked her if the recession is ‘transitory’, as she said about inflation.

[skeeter]

It was a hoot watching Janet Yellen try to convince everyone a recession is no longer two straight quarters of economic contraction.

[boxlunch]

We hereby identify this recession as an amazing green eco friendly economic boom!

If you do not acknowledge and support our truth you are a racist, congressphobe, deplorable meanie bobini and are LITERALLY KILLING PEOPLE!!

(/sarc unneeded hopefully.)

[Night Hides Not]

In other news, the Biden Administration is now saying “A = B”.

[Fiji Hill]

Just around the corner, there’s a rainbow in the sky,
So let’s have another cup of coffee and let’s have another piece of pie.
Trouble’s just a bubble, and the clouds will soon roll by,
So let’s have another cup of coffee and let’s have another piece of pie.
Let a smile be your umbrella, for it’s just an April shower.
Even Zuckerberg and Bezos are looking for the silver lining;
Kamala and Biden say, “now’s the time to buy.”
So let’s have another cup of coffee and let’s have another piece of pie.
—My apologies to Irving Berlin

[rktman]

I missed the redefining of “peaceful”. Anyone got a Funk & Wagnels? 🤔😅✌

[silent majority rising]

So if I run up $22,000 on my credit card with a $25,000 limit, and I want to buy a $2000 suit, even though my credit card payment is $500 per month, I CAN AFFORD THAT SUIT, because I am paying $500 anyway. No consequences then, right?

[cuz1961]

Webster’s
Dictionary

has been replaced with

Whichever Way the Wind Blows
Dictionary

[Gaffer]

Somebody needs to tell CamelA that women who insist on abortion should really try and figure out where babies come from. Dumbass woman...

[catnipman]

whether anyone actually believes the nonsense regarding definition of “recession” is completely irrelevant ... this is all simply an obfuscation/propaganda tactic that gives a hook to the fascist corporate/democrat media to change the narrative from “omg, we’re in a recession and that’s a bad thing” to “what recession?” ...

die-hard leftist trolls and bots will also be able to convince social media to ban anyone who claims we’re in recession for spreading “misinformation” ...

[cld51860]

The games commies play.

[frank ballenger]

The whiny voiced WJR Detroit Guy Gordon had an academic economy prof on who said he’s watching for good and encouraging news that we are not really in a recession after all.

This and the slight decrease for now in gas costs make me angry. Americans: “Not so bad price as before.” But the a-holes are paying much more than Trump oil self sufficiency days. Just not AS bad.

So Satan will work out lots of good things to happen for his darling Dems and Biden in November. As he did when his Chinese communist underlings sent us a deadly Covid virus to destroy the Trump economy and lose him the election. Followed by “watch the economy come roaring back” after Trump was forced out by a rigged election we cannot talk about legally.

I want Americans to suffer terribly and to vote GOP (not that they don’t need to suffer for being RINOs but they will save us from worse Dems-—sort of.).

[LeoTDB69]

Redefine recession
Redefine woman
Redefine vaccine

What’s next?