Our first "Duh of the Week" award

by Ron Daly

There are days where I wake up and look at the modern news and say "well done". I admit, those days are few. Sometimes the news brings us something amazing, something we couldn't live without. But often times, we get news that makes us slap ourselves on the forehead and say "DUH!"

Welcome to the "Duh of the Week" awards. 

This weeks award goes to...nearly every major news outlet. Take a look at this list of links and see if you can pick out a pattern:

Forbes - It's Official: US in recession

Slate - It's Official: Recession is Here

The Arizona Republic - It's Official: Recession began in December '07

ABC.net.au - It is official: the US is in Recession

Kansas City Star - It's official: We're in Recession

Boston Globe - It's official: US has been in a recession all year

If you guessed what the similarities are...email me, I can't figure it out. 

Oh, WAIT! There it is! Someone banged some sort of magic gavel and officially "recessionized" the country (The NBER, if it matters to you). What's more, we've been slipping downward for a whole YEAR now. Good news? Since the Granddaddy of all recessions (The Great Depression, that is - Which Slate says we don't need to get all hot and bothered about in this article), the longest any one recession has lasted is 16 months. We get that from a chart on CNNMoney, with an article titled...can you guess?

With that in mind, what should be done? If history is an indicator, 16 months would mean this is over in April. But in April, of course, we'll all be paying for the bailout with our taxes. New administration, new tax code. If we DO bailout the "Big Three" automakers, what then? 

And does making it official do anything positive for the country? I think it's just the opposite. With the recession now "official", consumer confidence will most likely drop. What good will that do? 

The CUJournal featured a story this week (click here to read) that WASN'T about anything being "official". It had to do with credit unions working with their members and finding ways to help them cope. If anything will help with this recession, it will be the work of people and credit unions that genuinely understand the trouble people are going through. Call the recession whatever you want, but the only thing that matters is what we, as an industry, do. 

Enjoy your "Duh of the Week" award, entire mainstream media. It doesn't come with a cash prize. Frankly, nothing does anymore. 

To submit your own "Duh of the Week", leave us a comment below. 

Comments

[Elliott]

This may be just wishful thinking, but here we go anyway.

If you buy the claim that the average recession typically lasts about a year, we should be close to the end. Even predictions of April seem to contradict earlier estimates of this lasting all of 2009.

The thought that the recession "officially" began in December 07 may cause many to reevaluate their expectations of where the economy is headed of the next several months / year. The hope that it might be over earlier that originally expected may actually raise consumer confidence.

[Kevin]

I think the Duh award should go to the NBER, not the mainstream media. In fact, I think the mainstream media deserves a "heh-heh, nice job" award for bringing to light how ironic the NBER's announcement seems.

[SRG]

lol "Someone banged some sort of magic gavel and officially 'recessionized' the country" great quote. Seriously, I heard the "official" announcement on NPR the other day and was like "wow, thanks for that breaking news..."