GDP

The 2004 GDP just came in at 11.7t! That figure represents a 4.4% growth for 2004 and a 3.1% growth for the 4th Q of 2004. Not bad but an 8 to 10% growth would make most of our problems go away. Where are the brains anyway? They are not in our faculties of higher learning. Those professors are married to the political doctrine of the left. The left side of the aisle believes existentially whatever serves their political platform of opposition and negativity. The right side of the aisle, with some grasp of economics, seems engaged in supporting dying monopolies, wooly mammouths if you will, from the stone age, saving the world and a political two step that claims a contract with America containing neither, term limits, line item veto, nor anything near eliminating the bribery and corruption of so called soft money and lobbyists. Meanwhile the Information Economy remains frozen by these same interests. Our own emotional energy rather seems wasted on issues of personality, abortion and the polarization of political hate. Hello, it's the economy folks. Without manufacturing our only prayer lies with technology, and the productivity that free information and technology can bring. We can't save the world if we can't save ourselves. (Please excuse the rant, but it needs saying.)