From Times Online
March 3, 2008
Warren Buffett declares America in recession Suzy Jagger and Dearbail Jordan
Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, today declared that the United States was in a recession as he withdrew an offer to bail out the increasingly troubled bond insurance industry.
Mr Buffett, the world's third-richest man, said that "from a commonsense standpoint right now we're in recession", despite the fact America had yet to report two consecutive quarterly falls in gross domestic product, the technical definition of a downturn.
He conceded that the economic environment was "nothing like '73 or '74", when the US was in recession and inflation reached 12.1 per cent, but he said that investors should not rule out the possibility of a severe downturn.
Evidence that the recession in residential construction has spread across America's entire building industry emerged today after official numbers showed a sharp slowdown in public and corporate projects.
Construction spending overall in January dropped 1.7 per cent, far worse than Wall Street's expectations of a 0.7 per cent decline. However, for the first time in two years, non-residential and public sector building - which includes new hospitals and office blocks - shrank 1.2 per cent.
The grim construction data suggests that the credit crisis which erupted last summer has hit company spending, spilling over from the financial sector across corporate America as a whole.
Full story:
Warren Buffett declares America in recession - Times Online
But I guess if George W says theres no recession, theres no recession!! Always believe a man who's good with numbers!!