Recession Woes (Editorial)

The U.S. economy has been in the doldrums for some time now. So the National Bureau of Economic Research finally said recently what most of us already knew:  we’ve been in a recession for a year, since last December.

Memo to President Bush and his team now that you’re about to become history: You can now say the “R” word in public. For the record, there have been two recessions while Bush has been president.

And the news just seems to keep getting more grim with each passing week or each passing day, maybe each passing hour.

Consumer confidence and, thus, consumer spending have hit bottom, which is affecting nearly every industry and market sector in the country. More than 1 million have lost their jobs this year. People have lost billions in their 401(k) accounts. The Christmas season looks to be less merry for retailers. And so on it goes.

Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., adding to the panic atmosphere, told reporters recently that the U.S. could be just months away from “the toughest economic times of our lifetime.”

Economists are expecting the current downturn to last until at least midway through 2009, although some are predicting a longer recession. It’s no wonder everyone is so gloomy.

But Arkansas has been fortunate – at least so far. As is typical, we missed out on the highs that some other states enjoyed, and we’re dodging the lows that others are suffering through. State revenue collections continue above last year’s levels, and we’re not facing the huge deficits and cutbacks facing many other state governments. And there’s still money out there to be made and banks still willing to loan to creditworthy borrowers.

We think the panic mode is off base. Most of us still have a roof over our heads and still eat three meals a day. We may spend a little less this Christmas, but most of the world remains envious of all we have in the U.S.

This is the 11th recession since World War II, and we’ve managed to recover from each of them. Yes, there are tough times ahead, but the sun will rise tomorrow.