Bye-bye, Bush boom: turning dismal statistics into `steady growth'

[dArKeR]

By PAUL KRUGMAN
NY TIMES NEWS SERVICE , NEW YORK
When does optimism -- the Bush campaign's favorite word these days -- become an inability to face facts? Last Friday, US President George W. Bush insisted that a seriously disappointing jobs report, which fell far short of its pre-announcement hype, was good news: "We're witnessing steady growth, steady growth. And that's important. We don't need boom-or-bust-type growth."

But Bush has already presided over a bust. For the first time since 1932, employment is lower in the summer of a presidential election year than it was on the previous Inauguration Day. Americans badly need a boom to make up the lost ground.

And we're not getting it.

When March's numbers came in better than expected, I cautioned readers not to make too much of one good month. Similarly, we shouldn't make too much of June's disappointment.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/07/08/2003178160