1115.org

Just yesterday, our wise, competent and, most importantly, credible Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson said:

“…in terms of subprime and the recess, the worst isn’t over; the worst is just beginning.”

But today, speaking before the House Budget Committee, Paulson said:

“The U.S. economy is diverse and resilient, and our long-term fundamentals are healthy. I believe our economy will continue to grow, although at a slower pace than we have seen in recent years.”

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that someone at the White House didn’t appreciate Paulson’s doomsaying yesterday, and insisted on some changes in today’s comments. After all, the US economy started slowing last year as housing prices began cliff diving, and the resulting credit crunch cramped everything else. From the Bureau of Economic Analysis:

Real gross domestic product — the output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States — increased at an annual rate of 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to advance estimates released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the third quarter, real GDP increased 4.9 percent.

So growth went from 4.9% to 0.6%. How does Paulson think we’ll avoid a recession (”our economy will continue to grow”) if “the worst isn’t over; the worst is just beginning.”? How much more does he think growth can slow without turning negative? Those are questions the business press should be asking, but aren’t. They seem content with wiping after Paulson gets done talking out of both sides of his ass.