From the RNT:

The American economy is in a recession, SunTrust Banks’ chief economist told the Rotary Club of Rome today.

“I know it’s up for debate, but they’re wrong,” Gregory Miller said. He said the recession started late last year and will last until April or May 2009.

“Right now, we have the worst of both worlds, weak economic growth and strong inflation,” Miller said. Going back to the 1960s finds that combination in the economy less than 10 percent of the time, he said.

The widely accepted measure of a recession by economists is two consecutive quarters of negative growth in the economy.

Miller said there was 1.9 percent growth in the Gross Domestic Product index in the second quarter of 2008, but half of that came from tax rebate checks, a one-time event, and the other half was increased product exports due to the weak dollar. Take away those factors, and the GDP for the second quarter would be negative, he said.

Golly gee--if economic growth wasn't positive it'd be negative. And if the queen had ..., she'd be king. The GDP number for the 4th quarter of last year was revised to be a negative 0.2 percent, and the NBER isn't bound by the negative growth in two quarters rule of thumb when dating recessions. On balance, however, Phil Gramm is right that this is mostly a mental recession. Even for some economists.