I jest. We love Krugman. But he's not one to pull punches. So if he sees a glimmer of hope in the economy, that's good.
We won’t be getting a 3rd-quarter GDP estimate until October 29, but we do have industrial production — and it’s growing seriously fast: 5.2% annual rate for 3rd quarter, even faster in the last month....
On the other hand, it would take two years of 5% growth just to get unemployment back to around 7%. So we’re a long way from being out of the woods, or even to the point where the Fed should lift rates above zero.
So not too much optimism — but the picture isn’t entirely black.
