Chart of the day II

If you're wondering why this blog isn't doing backflips over the this week's announced 3.5 percent GDP increase, here's your answer:

While government spending is on the up and up, private investment is in a funk. That's the same private investment that was supposed to take off after "pump priming" from this year's stimulus package. The only growth in GDP seems to be coming from the temporary sugar rush of government spending.

Chris Edwards, from whom this graph was taken, speculates:

I suspect that many firms are scared to death of higher taxes, inflation, health care mandates, increased labor regulation, and other profit-killers coming down the road from Washington.

Sounds about right to me.

Update: More on the GDP figures here.