The economy is growing and the Republican presidential candidates are lying about it. Via Steve Benen from his new place at Maddow Blog the latest GDP numbers in context:
Benen notes:
It's important to realize, though, that 2.8% growth is hardly a breakthrough or evidence of a robust recovery. Under normal conditions, a figure like this would suggest the economy was fairly healthy and growing at a steady pace, but therein lies the point: these are not normal conditions. Given the severity of the Great Recession, and how much ground there is to make up, we'd much prefer to see a significantly higher number.
And we won't see that higher number until businesses begin to spend the trillions of dollars they're holding in cash reserves.