Economics

Engram, the proprietor of Back Talk, does his usual stellar job finding and presenting facts, this time about the USA economy. His assessment of those facts:

the facts have just not supported the idea that the economy was falling into a recession despite the mortgage crisis. GDP grew at 0.9% in the first quarter and at 3.3% in the second quarter.

My contribution to the comments on that post:

Today I received a notice from United Airlines alerting me that oil speculators are responsible for the hardships of their firm and their industry. The same industry that has seen a major bankruptcy every couple of years for the past quarter century. During most of that span fuel averaged less than 30% of today's price.

Maybe fuel cost isn't the root of airline industry problems.

This, from the Antiplanner, seems relevant to wondering what
happened to thriving neighborhood nodes in the 60s and 70s and to today's potential for niche districts (kitsch/arts/whatever):

Here's one possible reason for the observed minimal effect of $3/gallon gasoline on our standard of living:

Amid the overwhelming reports of people concerned about the US economy possibly moving into recession, I have one primary admonishment:

Go do something productive!

The more we replace worry with work, the more productive and valuable each of us becomes. As individuals do more and better, the aggregate measure of all people (The Economy) grows and rises.