“General Winter and Colonel Fed”

I know it´s only the preliminary report and will be subject to revisions. But most headlines were quick to blame the harsh winter weather, acting to reduce supply, for the dismal output performance. Also, most analyses detail the positive and negative contributions of the GDP components, but there´s no mention of the fact that nominal spending (NGDP) tumbled from a 4.2% annual rate in Q4 2013 to 1.4% in Q1 2014. And that´s the demand side of the story, manned by Colonel Fed.

Let´s see what they have to say later today.

PS Don´t miss Britmouses´ post on the BoE´s “stress-test” conditions: “What happens if we screw-up again?”