The Meh Economy

At Politico, Ben White reports on 2.3 percent economic growth in the second quarter:

“It’s good that the economy actually grew rather than contracted in the second quarter, but the fundamental story is still very much the same,” said Megan Greene, chief economist at Manulife Asset Management. “Businesses are not investing, and we can continue to expect closer to 2 percent rather than 3 percent growth. And this is now the weakest expansion we have had in 70 years.” 

It’s the kind of “meh” economy that will offer the Republican nominee a clear window to argue that Clinton will offer only more of the same policies favored by President Barack Obama that have left the electorate sour and pessimistic. The Commerce Department also reported Thursday that the economy grew only at a 2 percent rate between 2012 and 2014, a 0.3 percent decline from previous estimates and further evidence that this has been the weakest recovery of the modern era.In addition to the soft gross domestic product figures, a popular measure of consumer confidence maintained by Bloomberg dropped the most in five months on Thursday, highlighting how uncertain people are about their own financial situation.