October 2010 Macro Pulse -- The “Fat Lady” Sings, but it’s a “Great Disappointment”

In opera circles, the saying goes that the show isn’t over until “the fat lady sings.” Although the horned helmet and metal breastplate were undoubtedly left on the shelf, the “fat lady" -- in this case the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee -- last month determined a trough in business activity occurred in the U.S. economy in June 2009. This trough marked the end of the recession that began in December 2007, and the beginning of an expansion....

Although the recession may be over in a technical sense, it certainly does not feel that way. If the period between December 2007 and June 2009 constituted the “Great Recession,” said David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff, “the period since then can be labeled the “Great Disappointment.”

The greatest disappointment so far has been....

Click here to read the entire October 2010 Macro Pulse.

The Macro Pulse blog is a commentary about recent economic developments that affect the forest products industry. That commentary provides context for our 24-month forecast, which is contained in the monthly Economic Outlook newsletter available through Forest2Market. The monthly Macro Pulse newsletter summarizes and gives a convenient point of access to the previous 30 days of commentary available on this website.