While many Americans are looking toward the future with concern these days as rumors of a “double dip” recession continue to swirl and the housing market and employment remain sluggish, at least one major money management firm has come straight out and said that these concerns are “overblown.” In fact, according to Lord Abbett partner and senior economist Milton Ezrati, if people hadn’t been so “excessively” optimistic in late 2010, probably we wouldn’t have so much concern over a double dip recession now[1]. Ezrati believes that said optimism probably prompted some unsustainable growth, such as home sales rising 27 percent between August 2010 and January 2011 and consumer spending rising by 5.4 percent on an annualized basis. This year, Ezrati says, thanks to a double dip in housing and layoffs in state and local employment, things do seem to be trending downward. However, he insists that “investors need to stop worrying about a double dip recession” because while “none of this points to a robust recovery…a second recessionary dip is highly unlikely.”
Ezrati actually is expecting a “middling growth” in the coming year, predicting 2.5 to 3 percent[2]. Based on his analysis, are you more or less concerned about the economy? Does this extend to the housing market as well?
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Let us know what you think about the “double dips” that have so many people worried in the space below.
[1] http://www.bankinvestmentconsultant.com/news/lord-abbett-economist-double-dip-recession-economy-2673939-1.html
[2] http://www.onwallstreet.com/news/lord-abbett-economist-double-dip-recession-economy-2673939-1.html
June 30th, 2011 at 2:00 PM
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