'Tis the month before New Year's and throughout the land
We pause to reflect, to see where we stand
To look where we've been and what lies ahead
and if our economy stays in the red.
We're in a recession, so we've been told,
Began last December when it was cold.
How did it start? Could we see it coming?
Was Greenspan to blame or was it the humming...
...Real estate market that came to a stop
Caused a GDP tumble, credit to drop
Bernanke misread it, then ran to catch up
To scurry to lead, to fill up the cup
Depleted as stocks fell off the cliff
All the while keeping an upper lip stiff
With Paulson on board he pushed for a rebate
To stimulate spending, but it wasn’t so great
Most went to savings, not to the store
Leaving the Congress to do lots more
Then came Bear Stearns, an investment bank crumbling
With it the entire house of cards tumbling
The Feds stepped in working a plan
For Chase to buy it, to do what they can
To settle the markets, but it unwound
When Freddie and Fannie both nearly drowned
So back to the Capitol, back up the Hill
Asking the Congress to dip into the till
For yet another Treasury dose of some help
Even though taxpayers were ready to yelp
And in the background an election race run
Primaries racing, campaigns undone
Gone were Thompson and Romney and Mayor Rudy
Leaving the only challenger Huckabee
But he wasn’t enough to stop John McCain
Who rode Straight Talk Express to a winning campaign
The Dems dropped Edwards, Richardson too
Leaving Clinton, Obama as the last two
Barack’s time was coming, only a matter of when
He finally would vanquish New York’s junior Sen.
Then Obama chose Biden as his running mate
McCain tapped Palin from the frozen state
The economy though was too much to overcome
When the voting was over, history won.
Confidence was slipping, consumers grew wary,
Profits plunged too; Wall Street was scary.
NASDAQ fell lower, the Dow too was dropping.
The Fed took some action: interest rate lopping.
But still the economy was the dominant force
With new strains on Wall Street to throw us off course
Lehman was thrown under the bus
With no understanding how much of a fuss
The demise of a legend would bring to the Street
Giving investors still colder feet
Bernanke and Paulson called for a TARP
The House first balked and threw out a har-
-poon to kill it until it was changed
Thinking the rescue was all arranged
But the plan was written in disappearing ink
Leaving our reps to ponder and think
About what they’d done and who was in charge
As auto makers tried to barge
Into the rescue, help us they said
If you don’t our industry’s dead
The Congress again took a pass
Leaving George W. Bush to step on the gas
To try to revive the faltering firms
Avoiding, he hoped, the spreading of germs
Now the Bushes are leaving, back off to Texas
No longer his syntax will be there to vex us
Obama arriving, with a new crew
His wife and his daughters -- and their little dog too!
The nation still though mired in recession
Looks back to Washington for a concession.
What can we see as we look to next year?
Recovery later? Recovery near?
It might take a while, testing our mettle
For markets to revive, to finally settle
What can we say to finish this rhyme?
Here's hoping we have a better '09
Mark Lieberman is the senior economist for the Fox Business Network. Prior to joining FOX, he served as first vice president and manager of economic analysis and research at Washington Mutual in New York. Before that, he served as senior vice president at Dime Savings Bank of New York (which was later acquired by Washington Mutual), where he specialized in credit and risk management. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the New York Association for Business Economics. He has a degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Monday, December 22Chicago Fed National Activity Index (Nov / 3 Mo Mov Avg)October actual: -1.06 / -2.09No November consensusTuesday, December 23GDP (3Q Final) (Q-Q Annualized)2Q Actual: UP 2.8%3Q Preliminary: DOWN 0.5%3Q Final Consensus: DOWN 0.5%Existing Home Sales (Nov)October actual: 4,980,000 DOWN 3.1% (Month-Month)November consensus: 4,900,000 DOWN 1.6% (Month-Month)New Home Sales (Nov)October actual: 433,000 DOWN 5.3% (Month-Month)November consensus: 420,000 DOWN 3.0% (Month-MonthUniversity of Michigan Consumer Sentiment (Dec Final)November Final Actual: 56.3December Preliminary Actual: 59.1December Final Consensus: 56.0Richmond Fed Survey (Nov)November actual: -38 DOWN 12No December consensusWednesday, December 24MBA Application Index (Week ended: December 19)Week Ended December 12: 841.4 UP 2.9%Four-week moving average: 641.7 UP 18.6%No December 19 consensusUnemployment Insurance Claims (Week Ended December 20)December 13 Actual: 554,000 DOWN 21,000December 20 Consensus: 550,000Four-week moving average: 543,750 DOWN 2,750No December 20 consensusDurable Goods (Nov)TotalOctober actual: DOWN 6.9%November consensus: DOWN 2.5%Ex-AutoOctober actual: DOWN 5.4%November consensus: DOWN 2.8%Personal Income and Consumption (Nov)Personal IncomeOctober actual: UP 0.3%November consensus: UP 0.1%Personal ConsumptionOctober actual: DOWN 1.0%November consensus: DOWN 0.7%PCE Core Inflation IndexOctober actual: 2.1% DOWN 0.2%November consensus: 2.0% DOWN 0.1%Thursday December 25CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYNo Data ReleasesFriday, December 26BOXING DAYNo Data Releases
November home sales tank
Resolve conflicts with win-win strategies
Producer, Consumer Prices Ahead In Upcoming Week
