How to Know More than a Politician on the Economy

Boy, we extend an open invitation to any government official to join us as a Decoding Wall St. member free for a week. The lines of questioning and understanding of the broad economy, and the economy’s intricacies, were very painful to listen to at Ben Bernanke’s latest presentation before Congress. We elected these people to steer our economy through good and bad economic times and yet, they sure didn’t come across as convincing with regards to what Bernanke and his peers do at the Federal Reserve. Scary stuff.

We want to give you the tools to outsmart your elected officials on the economy, especially important to have ready as the race for president intensifies. Bernanke’s testimony will aid in that process.

Bernanke: “Real domestic product rose at an annual rate of 2% in the first quarter after increasing at a 3% pace in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Decoding Wall St.

Real gross domestic product (sound smart: real GDP)

• The actual growth rate of the economy minus the rate of inflation. This measure is used by economists to gauge actual demand for goods and services minus price changes (fluctuate), and to sound cool.

Hidden Message

• The economy slowed in the first three months of 2012 versus the last three months of 2011, a problem that troubles policymakers that have vowed to keep interest rates low until 2014.

Bernanke: “In April and May, however, the reported pace of job gains slowed to an average of 75,000 a month.”

Decoding Wall St.

Pace of Job Gains

• The direction of increases and decreases in the number of jobs created in a given month (this phrase could be applied to other economic data as well). For example, if April created 10 new jobs, May had 8, and June had 2 then the pace would be “slowing.”

Hidden Message

• The slowing economy has caused fewer people to be hired, maybe even triggered some firings, and that is disturbing with interest rates near 0%.

Send email to newsletter@decodingwallst.com to receive a one-week free trial membership, and score the rest of the above newsletter!