Q1 GDP report seen as workhorse, not show pony
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — If the first-quarter gross domestic product report is an animal, then economists say it’s more a workhorse than a pony.
March 10, 2012
Cracks in the Dam
Click to enlarge.
Dog and Pony Show
The term has come to mean a highly promoted, often over-staged performance, presentation, or event designed to sway or convince opinion for political, or less often, commercial ends. Typically, the term is used to connote disdain, jocular lack of appreciation, or distrust of the message being presented or the efforts undertaken to present it.
Interesting that the trend broke way back in 1991.
ReplyDeleteScott,
ReplyDelete1990-92 Early 1990s Recession
I remember it well as I graduated undergrad in 1991. That link fails to mention the early 1991 spike in oil prices due to the Gulf War. That most certainly had a significant effect on GDP and jobs.
ReplyDeleteScott,
ReplyDeleteYou missed the last half of the third paragraph.
Other causes of the early 1990s recession included moves by the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in the late 1980s and Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in the summer of 1990. The latter drove up the world price of oil, decreased consumer confidence, and exacerbated the downturn that was already underway.
In any event, you do know your history! :)
In the early 1990s I was working at a computing branch office of a Japanese landscape architect company.
Talk about being in the eye of the storm. I was laid off and rejoined the ranks of the unemployed.
I was younger, relatively naive, and optimistic back then though. I thought it was no big deal. I didn't follow the economy much. Ignorance was bliss.
I have to wonder what today's younger workers are thinking. Are they as optimistic as I was? Should they be?
Should I be optimistic now? I really don't think so. Hope I'm wrong.