Yes, we have a banana

As we inferred from the Biden administration’s verbal gymnastics this week, today’s Commerce Department report indicates that we are in a conventionally understood recession. According to the department, the economy contracted for a second straight quarter, with growth falling at a 0.9 percent annual rate in the April-June period. The Bureau of Economic Analysis explains: “Real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at an annual rate of 0.9 percent in the second quarter of 2022, following a decrease of 1.6 percent in the first quarter. The smaller decrease in the second quarter primarily reflected an upturn in exports and a smaller decrease in federal government spending.”