Dear Editor:

A recent government report for the First Quarter of 2023: Real gross domestic product (GDP)* increased at an annual rate of 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2023. So we are to believe our economy is growing, but, the annual inflation** rate for the United States was 5.0% for the 12 months ended March, following a rise of 6.0% in the previous period. So in other words our economy actually fell by @ 5%. We are in a recession.***

*Gross domestic product is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is most often used by the government of a single country to measure its economic health. (Wikipedia).

** in·fla·tion: noun: 1. the action of inflating something or the condition of being inflated. "the inflation of a balloon."

2. Economics: a general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money.

*** re·ces·sion: noun: a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters.

Joe Scorcia

Boothbay