GDP has declined only 3% from its peak

For all the talk about how "bad" the economy is, it is worth noting that annualized real GDP, the best available measure of the health of the overall U.S. economy, has only declined by 3.13% ($366.9 billion) from a peak of $11.7274 trillion in Q2 of 2008 to $11.3605 trillion in the most recent quarter, Q1 of 2009. The annualized decline in Q2 is expected to be about -1.1%, which would subtract another 0.3% from that, still only -3.4% off the peak.

Given all that has happened, that certainly does seem to be a rather modest hit to the overall economy.

Somehow, I think we'll survive.

No thanks to the media though.

-- Jack Krupansky