IN BRIEF

Second-quarter GDP cut to 1.3 percent

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012 by CHUCK GRIMMETT

“Economic growth was much weaker than previously estimated in the second quarter as a drought cut into inventories, setting the platform for an even more sluggish performance in the current quarter against the backdrop of slowing factory activity.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 1.3 percent annual rate, the slowest pace since the third quarter of 2011 and down from last month’s 1.7 percent estimate, the Commerce Department said in its final estimate on Thursday.

Output was also revised down to reflect weaker rates of consumer and business spending than previously estimated. Outlays on residential construction export growth were also not as robust as had been previously estimated.” (Reuters)

Perhaps low consumer and business spending are the effects, not the causes, of weak economic growth?

FEE Timely Classics

Consumer Spending Doesn’t Drive the Economy by Mark Skousen

GDP: Who Needs It? by Warren Gibson