Personally, I don't think we have ever gotten out of the recession. I know the economists base the figures on quarterly growth and according to their reports we have had some growth. But figures can be so manipulated. Today I learned that the Federal government is counting the government spending on research and development as production. The government's brilliant stat man said this: “We’re capitalizing research and development, and also this category referred to as entertainment, literary and artistic originals, which would be things like motion picture originals, long-lasting television programs, books and sound recordings.” So the old Lucy reruns are adding to the economic output. The only thing being produced is a higher GDP number so Government can show a better report. This reminds me of the two government workers, one digging a hole and the other one filling it back up. When asked why they were doing this, the answer, "well, there was three of us, one to dig, one to put in the tree and one to cover the hole back up. The middle man's job got cut so now it's just the two of us." In that scenario, two people still have a job but nothing is being produced. When the government can play with the numbers, who knows whether there's a recession or not.