Oil prices tumbled below $50 a barrel Monday as National Bureau of Economic Research reported that the U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007.

Crude had already fallen 8 percent on reports showing that manufacturing activity in the U.S. hit a 26-year low, which was much worse than expected, and construction spending fell again.

I do find it highly entertaining, however, that OPEC can no longer determine the price of oil simply by cutting production. In fact, their most recent cuts have only resulted in the price per barrel dropping lower. Apparently they just concluded a meeting yesterday in which they could come to any decision on what to do, other than meet again in a few weeks.

Gas in Henderson was $1.49 on Thanksgiving day and when I got up Friday morning it was $1.69. Anyone know why the jump?

the U.S. economy has been in a recession since December 2007.

 

That's not true.

That's not true.

 

You have reports saying otherwise?

That's not true.

 

Sad to say but yes it is true.

 

It's official: Recession since Dec. '07

The National Bureau of Economic Research declares what most Americans already knew: the downturn has been going on for some time.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/01/news/economy/recession/index.htm?postversion=2008120112#

I do find it highly entertaining, however, that OPEC can no longer determine the price of oil simply by cutting production. In fact, their most recent cuts have only resulted in the price per barrel dropping lower. Apparently they just concluded a meeting yesterday in which they could come to any decision on what to do, other than meet again in a few weeks.

 

The market for gasoline, as inelastic as demand may seem, is still primarily ran by demand (and a strong dollar). God Bless the Free Market (right, acemona? :jump:)

Sad to say but yes it is true.

 

It's official: Recession since Dec. '07

The National Bureau of Economic Research declares what most Americans already knew: the downturn has been going on for some time.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/01/news/economy/recession/index.htm?postversion=2008120112#

 

I'm sure it probably is true, but I couldn't help but wonder if this agency - whom I've certainly never heard of - is the "official" source to make such a determination. And furthermore, I did find the following statement in the link very odd:

 

"Many people erroneously believe that a recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of economic activity declining. That has yet to take place during this recession."

 

Include amongst the many of erroneously-informed people to be some pretty well-credentialed economists.

I'm sure it probably is true, but I couldn't help but wonder if this agency - whom I've certainly never heard of - is the "official" source to make such a determination. And furthermore, I did find the following statement in the link very odd:

 

"Many people erroneously believe that a recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of economic activity declining. That has yet to take place during this recession."

 

Include amongst the many of erroneously-informed people to be some pretty well-credentialed economists.

The NBER is the group that has been being used for decades.

Gas in Henderson was $1.49 on Thanksgiving day and when I got up Friday morning it was $1.69. Anyone know why the jump?

 

Holiday shopping. (Although the gas people will tell you otherwise).

 

Same thing happened in Louisville

The NBER is the group that has been being used for decades.

 

Oh . . . . :sssh:

I'm sure it probably is true, but I couldn't help but wonder if this agency - whom I've certainly never heard of - is the "official" source to make such a determination. And furthermore, I did find the following statement in the link very odd:

 

"Many people erroneously believe that a recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of economic activity declining. That has yet to take place during this recession."

 

Include amongst the many of erroneously-informed people to be some pretty well-credentialed economists.

 

I did a little research on the NBER. http://wwwdev.nber.org/cycles/dec2008.html

HISTORY OF THE NBER

Founded in 1920, the National Bureau of Economic Research is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works. The NBER is committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community.

 

Over the years the Bureau's research agenda has encompassed a wide variety of issues that confront our society. The Bureau's early research focused on the aggregate economy, examining in detail the business cycle and long-term economic growth. Simon Kuznets' pioneering work on national income accounting, Wesley Mitchell's influential study of the business cycle, and Milton Friedman's research on the demand for money and the determinants of consumer spending were among the early studies done at the NBER.

 

THE NBER TODAY

The NBER is the nation's leading nonprofit economic research organization. Sixteen of the 31 American Nobel Prize winners in Economics and six of the past Chairmen of the President's Council of Economic Advisers have been researchers at the NBER. The more than 1,000 professors of economics and business now teaching at universities around the country who are NBER researchers are the leading scholars in their fields. These Bureau associates concentrate on four types of empirical research: developing new statistical measurements, estimating quantitative models of economic behavior, assessing the effects of public policies on the U.S. economy, and projecting the effects of alternative policy proposals.

^ Well I guess they seem fairly accredited.

That's not true.

Send your thoughts to the writer of the article. I only copied what they wrote.

Oil was under 44 yesterday.