Want to help the economy recover in the 2nd half? Buy a new car or truck. Economists have been missing their economic forecasts by wide margins all year. Early in the year their consensus forecast for 1st quarter GDP growth was 3.5%. In the final weeks of the 1st quarter, as economic reports worsened, they frantically lowered their forecasts but were still too optimistic when the quarter came in with only 1.9% growth. [More...]