Guest Post: Is This Recovery "Self-Sustaining" Or Merely A Mind Trick?

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog, Perhaps the "recovery" is a Mind Trick played on the weak-minded.   Those with vested interests in the Status Quo tout data that supports the claim the "recovery" is now "self-sustaining," meaning that the economy is now expanding fast enough to fuel new growth. In this view, the Federal Reserve's extraordinary policy interventions (zero interest rate policy, $23 trillion in support provided to the global banking system, 3.4% mortgage rates, etc.) and the Federal government's unprecedented fiscal stimulus (borrow and blow $1.3 trillion a year) have done their job; the economy is now "self-sustaining," meaning that it can continue growing as Federal deficits shrink and the Fed trims its quantitative easing policies.   The data favored by the Status Quo interests are GDP (whi...