If the period between December 2007 and June 2009 constitutes the “Great Recession,” the period since then can be labeled the “Great Disappointment,” says star economist David Rosenberg.
In a recent report obtained by Business Insider, Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff, rattles off several statistics to illustrate the recovery’s weakness.
• While GDP has recouped 69 percent of its loss since hitting a low in June 2009, employment has recouped only 9 percent of its losses since hitting a low in December 2009.
• Household net worth has recovered only 28 percent since its low in the first quarter of 2009.
• Wages and salaries have rebounded only 36 percent from their March 2009 lows.
• Housing starts have recouped only 7 percent of their losses since their April 2009 low.
• Home prices have recovered only 13 percent from their low in April 2009.
• Consumer sentiment has regained only 27 percent of its losses since hitting a low in November 2008.
• “New and existing home sales are at all-time lows. They have never recovered.”
All that adds up to the “Great Disappointment,” Rosenberg says.
While some believe these numbers point to a double-dip recession, Investment legend Warren Buffett isn’t one of them.
"I am a huge bull on this country,” he told CNBC. We are not going to have a double-dip recession at all."
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