Economy inching upward

Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009 | 2:07 a.m.

We believe it is time that President Barack Obama received some credit for the way the national economy has been behaving lately — less than eight months after he inherited one of the country’s worst financial crises.

Here’s a headline from Thursday’s Washington Post: “Manufacturing, housing show gains.” The story said these two important sectors of the economy showed signs of strengthening in July, and that the news is likely to bolster the view, shared by a growing number of economists, that the recession is winding down or has ended.

The story credited the Obama administration’s success in thawing the credit markets and to its programs, including “Cash for Clunkers,” which got car sales moving again, and the tax credit of $8,000 for first-time homebuyers, which has boosted home sales.

Wells Fargo economist Tim Quinlan answered the natural question posed by the newspaper: Are the gains temporary? “The government incentives are providing a little bit of acceleration ... and frankly we need it,” Quinlan said. “Does it mean once the incentives are gone we’re back in the soup? I don’t think so.”

The Associated Press reported Thursday that the economy shrank at an annual rate of 1 percent from April through June. Although that might not sound good, economists had predicted a 1.5 percent shrinkage. AP reported that this is more evidence the recession is drawing to a close, considering that in January through March, the economy shrank 6.4 percent.

Here’s another headline, this time in The New York Times on Wednesday: “Home prices are beginning to rise in nearly all major cities.” And from the Aug. 22 Wall Street Journal: “Stocks soar on 7.2 percent spurt in home sales.”

Of course, the economy is far from being repaired. High unemployment is still with us, as are home foreclosures and strains in the retail sector — and Nevada’s tourism-based economy has been among the hardest hit.

Nevertheless, the news about the national economy in recent days has been encouraging, and it hasn’t happened by accident. Obama’s policies are steadily working, giving Nevadans hope that tourism will pick up before too much longer.