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Friday, October 29, 2010

SBE Council Chief Economist on Third Quarter GDP and Policy


Today, Raymond J. Keating, chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), issued the following statement about the third quarter GDP numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis:

"The grossly under-performing economic recovery persists. A mere 2% real GDP growth in the third quarter, which came after a poor 1.7% in the second quarter, falls far short of where growth should be during a recovery. It's also important to note that the growth in private sector investment slowed in the second quarter compared to the first, and much of the advancement in the third quarter was replenishing inventories.

"Most worrisome is how slowly private real GDP is advancing. Factor out government's contribution, and real private-sector GDP grew at only 1.3% in the third quarter and 0.9% in the second quarter.

"Clearly, wrongheaded governmental policies focused on more spending and debt, higher taxes and increased regulation continue to hinder private-sector entrepreneurship, business, investment and growth. Until those policies are reversed, a slow, under-performing recovery promises to persist."

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