The the Hello and

welcome to Behind the News. My name is Doug Henwood. Just one guest today, Jody Dean making her 12th appearance in Behind the News,

to discuss her new book, Com essay on political belonging just published by

Verso.

We've got a bit of spare time here so I'm going to do something I haven't done in a while,

a little economic commentary.

A lot of people from specialists civilians, have been worrying more about an

imminent recession, though the tweeter-in-chief dismisses these concerns as fake news.

He would, of course.

These anxieties may be getting a little ahead of themselves.

The usual leading indicators are not sounding alarms yet.

But there's no doubt that economic momentum, which has never been mighty since the end of the

Great Recession in 2009, and wasn't all that great in the mid-2000s. been mighty

the end of the Great Recession in 2009 and wasn't all that great in the mid-2000s

expansion either is slowing.

GDP growth has averaged just 2.3% a year in this expansion, half the average of

post-World War II upturns. This quarter looks to be in this

quarter looks to be coming in around 2%.

This says nothing about how this slowly growing aggregate is produced or

distributed and at what cost to humans in nature, but it is the system's favorite indicator.

Employment growth, which is what matters to the working class, is also slowing.

Remarkably, though September saw the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years, there is no growth in average hourly wages.

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