1992 posts

Feed

Economists' survey puts chance of 2008 U.S. recession at 50/50

The U.S. economy will grow at a minuscule rate in Q1 2008 and the odds of a recession in 2008 stand at 50/50, according to a survey of economists conducted by Bloomberg News.

The 62-economist survey expects the world's largest economy to grow just 0.5% in Q1 2008, Bloomberg News reported. Meanwhile, the 2008 recession probability was increased to 50%, up from 40% in January 2008.

Economist Steve Affinito, who did not partake in the survey, told BloggingStocks Friday that 2008 looks like it will be the roughest election year, from an economic standpoint, since 1992.

Bearish, bullish forces


"We've got major contraction forces in the housing slump, the credit market crunch, and in high oil prices. Any one of those could cut growth substantially. Taken together, they can flatten economic activity," Affinito said. "On the stimulus side, we have 225 basis points of Fed rate decreases and a $168 billion fiscal stimulus package, so 2008 is shaping up to be a battle royal, economically speaking."

Continue reading Economists' survey puts chance of 2008 U.S. recession at 50/50

Symbol Lookup
IndexesChangePrice
DJIA+72.8112,874.04
NASDAQ+27.512,931.39
S&P 500+9.131,351.77

Last updated: February 13, 2012: 05:17 PM

Hot Stocks

General Electric

19.07+0.195(+1.03)

Alcoa

10.33+0.04(+0.39)

Apple Inc

502.60+9.18(+1.86)

Google Inc 'A'

612.20+6.29(+1.04)

Bank of America

8.25+0.18(+2.23)

Wal-Mart Stores

61.79-0.11(-0.18)

Exxon Mobil Corp

84.42+0.62(+0.74)

Ford

12.54+0.10(+0.80)

Citigroup

32.88-0.045(-0.14)

IBM

192.62+0.20(+0.10)

Yahoo

16.12-0.02(-0.12)

Starbucks

49.25+0.43(+0.88)

Microsoft

30.58+0.085(+0.28)

Home Depot

45.93+0.60(+1.32)

DailyFinance Headlines

AOL Business News

BioHealth Investor Headlines

Sponsored Links

My Portfolios

Track your stocks here!

Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.

BloggingStocks Partners

More from AOL Money & Finance

Page Loaded in 1329171439111 ms.