Economy looking up - finally some tentative good news

Glad to see some common sense coming from the government, not sure I like the idea of a new value-added tax, however it may be a necessary evil in these turbulent times.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. economy is no longer on the edge of collapse, but Americans must reduce the budget deficit, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Sunday.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will push for better relations with China.





Appearing on the ABC program "This Week," Geithner said he expected continued economic improvement for the rest of 2009 and a reversal in job losses the following year.
"What you're going to see first is growth turn positive," Geithner said. "Then you're going to see the pace of job losses slow significantly further," with job creation possible next year.
At the same time, the government would "look very carefully" at extending unemployment benefits expected to run out soon for more than a million Americans, he said.
Geithner insisted that economic collapse is "not going to happen." He warned, however, that emergency steps, including the bailout plan last year and the economic stimulus bill this year, are expanding the federal budget deficit to unsustainable levels.
"We will not get this economy back on track, recovery will be not strong and sustained, unless we ... can convince the American people that we're going to have the will to bring these deficits down once recovery is firmly established." he said.
Don't Miss

• U.S., China agree to economic strategies
• Commentary: Can U.S. afford trillion more in debt?

"We can do this -- it just requires the will to act," Geithner said, calling an overhaul of the health-care system one important step by reducing costs for both the government and average Americans. He also said the government does not plan to seek a second stimulus package.
Geithner refused to rule out future tax increases, saying the government would take whatever steps were necessary to reduce the deficit once recovery is established.
Also Sunday, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan echoed Geithner's assessment, saying he was "short-term optimistic" about the economy but "with many caveats."
Appearing on "This Week" after Geithner, Greenspan said he expected unemployment to continue to rise, but at a slower pace, with economic growth returning as soon as the current fiscal quarter.
However, Greenspan said the growing federal deficit posed a major problem, adding that he believed the government eventually will impose some kind of value-added tax to raise revenue.
A value-added tax is assessed on the transfer of goods and services from production to delivery, with consumers ultimately paying higher prices. It differs from a sales tax, which is directly assessed on consumers at the point of purchase.

 

http://www.whitewomenblackmen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9383&highlight=fourth+quarter

I will revise my opinion on the unemployment picture and say that companies won't be hiring en masse until the fourth quarter of 2010. A good sign is that house prices may have finally reached rock bottom. Banks still need to start lending again, but not in a manner that encourages Americans to spend so irresponsibly again. For good or bad, our economy will never look the same again, Reaganomics is over.