The REAL Story Behind the Numbers

...as John Williams at shadowstats.com points out, 92 percent of growth last quarter came from nonrecurring items such as the sales bump from Cash for Clunkers, homes purchased by first-time homebuyers taking advantage of $8,000 tax credits, and inventory buildups. "As personal consumption and housing decline anew, lacking stimulus props, and as excess inventories get worked off, a renewed quarter-to-quarter decline in real fourth-quarter GDP is a fair bet," writes Williams.

- Doug French, Mises Institute