Make That Two Scoops...

We've reached the consumer price panic point for gasoline! Sunday at 0700 New York Time! We are now unoffically at the edge - staring down the abyss: dip#2 of a "double-dip" recession.

PUSH comes to shove! Either we're out of the woods or we're not. The test of whether or not the economy sinks back into recession will be played out over the next 6 to 8 weeks. I figured that with holiday retail sales strong, millions of Americans falling off the unemployment rolls because they've exhausted benefits, and local financial advisers cooing about how things "are good," it was only a matter of time before "evil oil" raised prices again. The $3.25 price point for gas defines the line where consumers will now be forced to make budgetary cutbacks, many times because they just can't park the car.

FORGET THE CHEVY VOLT! Nobody wants it! GM should have made EV1's instead of Hummers when they had a chance and they would never have needed a bail-out, but that's another blog post!

Many smaller cities like Albany and its suburbs have no cheap reliable public transportation. (If you live in, say, Voorheesville and your job is in Troy, good luck getting there using public transportation. It can be done, but at great inconvenience and loss of time, not to mention convincing one's employer to accomodate the public bus schedules!)

Just days after the World Bank Chief proclaimed we should not expect a "double-dip recession" ::: "The recovery of the world economy has started to lose momentum since the middle of 2010, and all indicators point at weaker global economic growth. The recovery may suffer further setbacks if some of the downside risks materialize, in which case a double-dip recession is looming for Europe, Japan and the United States..." ~ The UN's World Economic Situation and Prospects 2011 Report.

To add further to the global woes...

Keep an eye on Ireland!

When gross domestic product (GDP) growth slides back to negative after a quarter or two of positive growth. A double-dip recession refers to a recession followed by a short-lived recovery, followed by another recession. Causes of a double-dip recession vary but often include a slowdown in the demand for goods and services because of layoffs and spending cutbacks from the previous downturn.

Tags: recession, double-dip recession