US in a mild recession?

There are two ways of looking at the world.

If we take the first one, or the glass half-empty, we can see this global downturn as a horrible time to get a job, to save money, to launch yourself into a start-up becoming an entrepreneur...

In the second one, or seeing the glass half-full, we could be seeing the opportunities that arise, the possibility to offer or to enter into new fields, as every soul and company have stopped every new venture, trying to save themselves from this temporary hell.

But Mr. Obama just invented another one. He sees everything FULL. A GDP shrink of 1.2 percent are his estimates for 2009. I hope he realizes that, given the revision of the GDP that showed the REAL decline (6.2% from the previous 3.8) of the US economy, preparing a best-case scenario could be disastrous for its economy.

I agree he has the duty and objective of renewing US citizen's trust in the economy, but this is too much, Mr. President...

Japanese companies were buying enormous stakes in US counterparts at the end of 2008, as the government assured the crisis would not have a severe effect there. Now, a 12% decline in GDP may show that they were wrong... maybe...

Please, optimism is great, but REALISM is needed!!!!

(I completely refuse talking about Spain... what a mess :( )

And the winner is... Spain!!!!

No more regrets, no more "what ifs". This time we were determined to win. We have taken all the steps to cross the line well ahead... and we got it.

We are always used to see Americans as the best ones. When things go well, they outperform everyone, and when things go bad, they situation is even worse. Not this time. Not in this moment. Can you hear it, my friends? Can you smell it? SPAIN IS HERE!!!!!

We're not longer afraid of your "impressive" unemployment data. 598.000 jobs lost in January, 3.7 million jobs lost since December 2007,unemployment rate of 7.6% (the highest in 16 years). But... are we supposed to be amazed?

No way. 198.838 job lost in January, 1.28 million jobs lost in 2008 (Encuesta de Población Activa), unemployment rate of 14.4% and even better perspectives for the future make us worldwide leaders!!!

We worked (or not) so hard to get it... that don't even dare to think we are going to stop here, we are going to mantain the lead. European Comission says we are going to have an unemployment rate of 18.7% in 2010. 

Don't be surprised, dear world. A country that doubles unemployment rate of the eurozone (especially "funny" is the rate in younger than 25: 29.5%), a country that adds up to 3.1 million unemployed to the total eurozone of 12.4 million is a complete champion.

Be prepared to surrender, World.