That headline is not mine. It is one of the bullet points in the latest assessment of the U.S. economy by David Rosenberg, North American Economist for Merrill Lynch. Here is a small excerpt:
Translation: It's bad, folks! And, if he's right that we will see another 4.5% GDP contraction in the first quarter of 2009, it's going to get a whole lot worse!Expect the worst recession in the post-WWII era
First, this is going to be the worst recession in the post-World War II era, in our view. The ECRI leading indicator hit a record low for the fifth week in a row – down to - 29.2 as of the November 21st week versus -28.2 the week before. This index, which leads real GDP by two quarters with a 70% historical correlation, is getting further and further away from the prior all-time low of -19.8 that defined the worst recession of the post-WWII era and saw a six-quarter consumer recession coincide with a 45% peak-to-trough decline in the stock market. Perhaps the fact that this bear market is proving to be even more severe is symptomatic of an economic downturn that will also prove to be deeper and more prolonged. After the flurry of data released just before Thanksgiving, we are now tracking close to a 4.5% QoQ annualized fall in real GDP in 4Q. This would be the largest pullback since the 1982 recession, and we see a similar contraction in the first quarter of 2009.
