Friday, July 31, 2009

The Economy Is Turning Around...If You Work for the Government

Via RedState we get the Commerce Department's report on the second quarter gross domestic product.

The good news: the economy is no longer in a free fall. The bad news: growth is almost entirely in the government sector.

So are we creating the conditions for a return to private-sector growth? The answer isn’t necessarily no. I think we’re creating the conditions to broadly transition the economy from a consumer-directed one to a government-directed one. The vitality and dynamism of such an economy will be far less than what Americans are used to, but that doesn’t mean we won’t have growth.

I hope you work for a defense contractor or government-funded healthcare provider, though. (Government spending on defense rose over 10% in Q2.) It’s also going to be very, very good to work for a government, since civil servants will get (and keep) gold-plated benefits, while private employees will get more uncertainty.

Private businesses are still struggling, cutting inventories and employees. If you work in the government, you're ok. Everyone else? Not so much.