President Bush Says “No Recession,” So We All Can Relax Now...

During a news conference yesterday, President Bush said that the country was not recession bound. It appears that everything is going to be okay, and we all can sleep better at night without fear of the scary recession monster.

I don’t know about you, but I’m just not getting that warm and fuzzy feeling. If you believe President Bush, and you feel good about the country’s economic future, then more power to you. I just don’t think I’m ready to drink that Kool-Aid quite yet.

I look at the economy and I still see major issues. Mr. Bush says that the economic stimulus package will be more than enough to fix what ails us, but I look at it and think “what a waste of tax payer money.” Of that $168 billion how much will actually end up back in the economy? 1/2? 1/3 or less? No one can know for certain, but I have a feeling it will not be nearly as much as the Bush clan is projecting.

What I do know is that inflation is running rampant, and it appears that the Fed isn’t going to do anything to slow it down for awhile. Even if Bush and Bernanke pull out all the stops to ward off recession, with what will we ultimately be left? Recession is a natural thing, it happens every once in awhile, and whether or not we want to, we are going to have to face it eventually. If we keep delaying it and delaying it, once it eventually comes it will only come harder. It would be great if we could avoid recession forever, but that only happens in Fantasy Land, and it is high time for President Bush and Bernanke to come back to reality. I know Bush is just trying to delay the recession until after the elections, but come on, man... your legacy is already ruined, and you’re only making it worse.

Meanwhile, investment-wise it pretty much comes down to this: If you believe that Bush and Bernanke have this thing under control, then you want to buy up dollar assets. If you don’t believe Bush and Bernanke are going to pull off a miracle, and are just setting us up for a harder fall, then you want to get out of the dollar.