Americans don’t care when the recession technically ended. They care that our unemployment rate still teeters near double digits, economic growth remains anemic, millions of Americans are working fewer hours than they want to and millions more have dropped out of the workforce entirely. Americans know that recent “growth” has been fueled by massive deficit spending, which will have to be paid back and that the specter of higher taxes is already discouraging individuals and businesses from spending and investing. Policy wonks might be interested in new data about whether our current economic problems warrant the term “recession.” Americans know we have an economic crisis, regardless of its name.
