Recovery?

[classicman]

Obama budget sees recovery gaining speed

President Barack Obama is feeling upbeat about the economic recovery, maybe too upbeat.

As part of his $3.8 trillion spending plan for 2013, the president included an economic forecast that shows the nation’s gross domestic product moving ahead by 3.6 percent this year and 4.4 percent in 2013. Obama and his advisors also see the unemployment rate falling to 7.5 percent next year, with an inflation rate holding steady at about 2 percent through the rest of the decade.

The administration also predicts the recovery will produce strong growth in 2014 before the pace of growth begins slowing in 2015.

While typical of the rosy scenarios outlined by White House budgets in an election year, the president added a note of caution to his economic outlook.

"We are seeing signs that our economy is on the mend," Obama said in his budget message to Congress. “But we are not out of the woods yet.”

The president’s numbers are higher than forecasts from the Congressional Budget Office and the Blue Chip survey of about 50 private business economists. One reason for the discrepancy, according to the White House, is that its forecast assumes the president’s budget proposal will be enacted as written.

The odds of that happening in an election year are slim to none.

Link