Today’s terrible GDP numbers

This morning, the quarterly release of GDP numbers from the Bureau of Economic Analysis confirmed the economy is shrinking: "We now know that the U.S. economy contracted by 3.8% in the final quarter of 2008 — the largest quarterly contraction since 1982," said EPI economist Josh Bivens. "This headline number actually masks how truly weak the economy was last quarter. Economic growth was essentially stagnant during 2008 with GDP falling by 0.2% from the fourth quarter of 2007 through the fourth quarter of 2008. This is terrible — but totally expected — news and highlights in the starkest way the need for an effective stimulus package to be passed by Congress and signed by the Obama administration."