Has the Iraq war create false economic statistics for US employers?

Question

Companies like Haliburton hire in the US then send employees overseas - does this inflate the real state of our economy?

Answer 1

yes it does because they count it as income when american companies make money overseas and halliburton has gotten several billion worth of cntracts from a deficit spending government. Amazing why the dollar is at a 14 yr low vs the British pound sterling despite all the great statistics you are referencing. When the economy is strong we gain ground vs foreign currency because it reflects that the world would prefer to save dollars vs euros etc.

Answer 2

Truth seeker here is a truth for ya. The number of home owners/buyers is at record levels which explains the low in savings and the high debt of the individuals. The people hired by Haliburton still help the economy of the country and there own estates so it is real income and still contributes. When people buy big ticket items like cars and houses they usually take out loans which in turn raises their debt level. If a person holds their house for on average 3 years they will make money on their investment (not always true but just rule of thumb) so look at home sales and the stock market for a good idea about the economy.

Answer 3

Your close.

What has happened is that an otherwise decent economy has been overstimulated by excess spending. This is a common economuc phenomenon in wartime--it happened in WW1 and WW2--and was necessary in those cases, for obvious reasons.

But wartime spending HAS to be short-term--otherwise you start getting sharp rises in inflation--and a variety of other economic instabilities as well. And, at the same time, if the transition back to a peacetime economy isn't managed properly, you get a serious economic downturn.

So what yo have here is a levelof economic growth that is real enough--as far as it goes. But it is not sustainable.My estimate is that we'll start getting downside indicatiors later this year--and be in a recession by the end of the year; certainly sometime in 2008.

Answer 4

The war is the ONLY reason we have a good economy, unfortunately it is all in-deficit and someone is going to have to pay it back!

Seen the housing starts! Worse than anytime during the past 30 years!

No wonder Bush wants to keep fighting in Iraq!

Answer 5

the war profiteering has skewed the entire economy. On paper, it appears the economy is booming. A look at the DOW and one assumes the economy is booming. A look in your checkbook or bank account shows the opposite.

the fact is, individual savings are at an all time low and individual debt is at an all time high. That is more of a direct reflection of how the economy is going.

Answer 6

well... it's actual money... and many of the employees send money back home to their families... so I'm not sure if it's "false" exactly...

but it's clearly helping the economy, how can hundreds of billions not help the economy...

Answer 7

not enough to matter, although to be honest...the people you speak of are still employed, so the #'s would be accurate