US Economy Contracts 37% in 2nd Quarter per IMF

[JCMach1]

This is equal to all of 1929-33 in a single quarter.

And people on DU were poopooing me yesterday when I said this election's closest equivalent is 1932

Link to tweet

?s=19

Corrected myself: this # gets us all the way to 1933

[Johnny2X2X]

1. Insane!

Where is this being reported though?

[Mike 03]

2. My god.

The US government will need to do more in coming months to provide support to households and boost demand, as well as address worsening poverty and the shortcomings of the US health system, the IMF said in its annual Article IV report on the world's biggest economy.

"Even with the unprecedented policy support being provided to the economy," the US suffered a 37 percent collapse in GDP in the second quarter, and the economy is expected to contract by 6.6 percent in 2020, the fund said, stressing the "tremendous uncertainties" surrounding the outlook.

https://www.trtworld.com/americas/covid-19-resurgence-poses-biggest-risk-to-us-economy-imf-38206

I wouldn't mind finding a better source. This number is so hard to believe.

Is GDP contraction the same as entire economy contraction?

[JCMach1]

3. Another source

https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/latest-news-today-live-updates-17-july-2020-120071700124_1.html


This is brand new info.

[Mike 03]

5. ...

LIVE: US economy plunged 37% in Q2, to contract 6.6% in 2020, says IMF

This is terrible news.

[JCMach1]

7. First three years of Great Depression in 1Q

[JCMach1]

4. McConnell and Trump.have no room to negotiate now

Peolosi needs to nail them to the floor

[guillaumeb]

6. Is everyone tired of all the winning yet? eom

[Mike 03]

8. From a Canadian website:

U.S. economy faces significant risks, long road to recovery - IMF staff
https://o.canada.com/pmn/business-pmn/u-s-economy-faces-significant-risks-long-road-to-recovery-imf-staff-3/wcm/b26675bd-07d9-468d-a551-13fff58cc8bb

The IMF staff said cited urgent warning signs that the crisis was hitting poor Americans and racial minorities the hardest, and would lead to a systemic increase in poverty. That would increase risks to the overall economy and could contribute to social unrest, they said.

“The risk ahead is that a large share of the U.S. population will have to contend with an important deterioration of living standards and significant economic hardship for several years to come,” the note said. “This, in turn, can further weaken demand and exacerbate longer-term headwinds to growth.”

It said the United States should reverse existing trade restrictions and tariff increases that were undermining global trade stability, and warned against treating undervalued currencies as countervailable subsidies.

[Mike 03]

9. How come the stock market isn't reacting to this news?

I thought for sure it would tank.

[Wounded Bear]

10. The Stock Market has been largely decoupled from the general economy...

It's basically just a casino now.

Plus, the Fed has been propping it up since the beginning of the crisis.

It's wa-a-a-a-y-y-y-y-y-y past do for a real correction.

[Mike 03]

11. Thank you.

You are right there's been a disconnect, but I thought this story would have some effect.

Wow...

I don't understand reality anymore.

[dawg]

12. Divide by four.

For whatever reason, lots of people report this number on an annualized basis. In other words, if the economy were to contract at the rate it contracted in the second quarter for an entire year, it would be down 37%. But it isn't actually down 37% yet - that would be horrifying. (But the way we're going, we could still get there.)

[JCMach1]

13. -6.6 GDP is horrific no matter how you slice it