No, it really happened Simfan. I'm just not sure if it will be sustained or if this is a one time thing.
As the full article points out, and wormyguy alluded to in an attempt to appear clever, April is more often than not a surplus month for reasons that should be obvious. A slip back into deficit is not just likely but expected.
A surplus was recorded in 44 of the last 58 Aprils. Whereas 2009, 2010 and 2011 were among those 14 'bad' Aprils, 2012 was not one of them. Therefore, an economic recovery is indisputably underway.
*Sarcasm* I am glad to hear that 2008 was an "indisputably" strong year from an economic standpoint! Great logic, my boy! *End Sarcasm*
Sadly, the bears are right and the bulls are going down.
You are trying to make either two of the following points:
(1) Budget surpluses equate economic collapse
(2) America was in a recession in April 2008
Both of them, if correct, are negatives for your candidate if true. How non-partisan of you to try and point it out.Obviously 2 is correct and 1 is incorrect. I was making the following point: A budget surplus this April does NOT mean the economy is on the upswing. Need evidence? Look no further than the fact that the last time this happened was 2008, which ended up being a year that appeared to be starting off OK and quickly went downhill. Don't forget: Recessions are not called until quite some time after they start. The atmosphere within firms is not good right now, although not as bad as this time four years ago (but still bad). Need evidence? Look at April's jobs report.
We've had a recovery, but it is the "jobless" variety. Like I said, the stock market is generally a leading indicator (although the Dow was up 17% for the entire year of 1980, but that had more to do with inflation). It has been on the downward trend the past couple of weeks. It is not a good sign for the rest of the year.