' Wrote:Actually, interestingly when people are spending more than they earn, its generally an indicator of economic growth (people borrow money during growth times, cut back during recession) - hence in this case its probably an indication that Sirius is NOT in a recession. Recession means 2 or more consecutive quaters of declining output (i.e. negative growth) which is not the same thing as spending more than you earn at all (that's just debt. Or a budget deficit).

' Wrote:Actually, interestingly when people are spending more than they earn, its generally an indicator of economic growth (people borrow money during growth times, cut back during recession) - hence in this case its probably an indication that Sirius is NOT in a recession. Recession means 2 or more consecutive quaters of declining output (i.e. negative growth) which is not the same thing as spending more than you earn at all (that's just debt. Or a budget deficit).

So, whilst I applaud your methods, you should reverse your conclusion - this healthy consumer spending means we're in a boom time! The recession will come when, eventually, the people spending more than they earn run out of money, IND will start losing their vast credit reserves by giving dodgy loans to everyone, plunging us into a financial crisis in which people stop spending things altogether.

Unless, of course, you are examining the npc economy which is the inverse of ours, in which case us earning less than we spend means the npcs must be doing the opposite. Or possibly not. Economics is complicated stuff. Don't jump to conclusions.

/endeconomicsspiel