Do we dream too small?

"Disturb
us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams
have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive
safely because we have sailed too close to shore. Disturb us, Lord, to
dare more boldly to venture on wider seas where storms will show Your
mastery; where losing sight of land we shall find stars. We ask You to
push back the horizons of our hopes; we ask You to push in the future
in strength, courage, hope, and love."

-- Sir Francis Drake - 16th century English sailor

In or heading for a recession?

From cnbc.com, last Friday, Kudlow caucus discussed the job report.

"The latest overall job loss numbers showed a loss of 49,000 jobs in May and a jump in unemployment rate up to 5.5%. The drop is still well below the six figure numbers seen in past recessions."

The panel was posed the question: Does today's jobs report spell recession? First, it was interesting that the panel was evenly divided.

My favorite reply was by Jerry Bowyer, Chief Economist, Benchmark Financial Network. He said NO. His explanation was priceless:

No bloomin' way.

A couple of hundred thousand college kids can't get summer jobs because the economic flat-earthers in congress just hiked the minimum wage and priced the kids (110% of whom plan to vote for Obama) out of the job market.

Fraternity pizza-budget impact: substantial.

GDP impact: minimal.

Seeing markets react to stupid congress just the way we said they would: priceless.