"Cold blamed for shaky growth" by Gail MarksJarvis
The Daily Press
February 20, 2014
The economic growth in the beginning of this year has been slower than expected, and many economists blame it on the unusually cold weather. Their reasoning is that the cold has discouraged consumers from leaving their homes and spending money. This doesn't seem to actually be the case, though, since online shopping is also lower than expected. The actual reason may be that disposable income is only rising about 2% annually. According to Russ Koesterich, this rate of increase is "'barely keeping up with inflation.'" Janet Yellen says that "the labor market has improved." Although there have been economic gains this year, the increases are not as substantial as expected.
I feel that economists are using the cold weather as a scapegoat because they want an excuse for why the economy is not improving as much as they hoped. Paul Edelstein remarked that it is hard to tell "'how much is weather and (how much is) underlying volatility in the economy.'" Perhaps they should just accept that "'2014 is going to be better than 2013, but it is still not going to be the breakout year we are always hoping for'" (Paul Edelstein).
What this means for the economy is that it will improve little by little over the course of this year. Although many economists had hoped that the economy would grow substantially, 2014 is probably not the year this will happen.
I cannot believe that people would blame the weather for a slow economy. That is absurd!!! There must be a logical explanation for the economy somewhere. I believe the reason of why it is going down is because of the high prices. We need cheaper goods for consumers to buy things.
ReplyDeleteWith online access, I do not understand how anyone came to the notion that cold weather affected goods. Besides, there are many parts of the world let alone the country that are experiencing warmer temperatures this time of year. I am glad to see the economy improving, as slow as it is, and hopefully 2015 will be that "break out year". Overall great post!
ReplyDeleteThat's is so interesting that people would blame the weather for the slow economy. There must something else causing the slow economy. The prices have been rising and that is probably why the economy is slow, not the weather.
ReplyDelete