So let's go by 1 4's.

I'll have to draw some of the negative quadrants.

Three fourths is our share. You keep forgetting.

I can find you all four quadrants of a logical possibilities chart.

And let's say there's two of us, and we're going to divide the quarters between us.

Initial comparisons are for trip interchanges between quadrants, sectors, or other large areas of interest.

The US current account deficit has been narrowing in recent quarters, thanks to export growth.

Even in the United States, economic performance has remained mediocre, with growth hovering around 1.5 for the last few quarters.

The 14 quarter growth trend from early 2008 to mid 2011 was cut from 0.5 to 0.2 the bulk of the downward revision was concentrated in the first six quarters of this period for which the estimate of the annualized consumption decline was doubled, from 1.1 to 2.2 .

Fourth, private consumption growth in the last few quarters does not reflect growth in real wages (which are actually falling).

In ringing Babylonian it was written in Babylonian he says, I am Cyrus, king of all the universe, the great king, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of the four quarters of the world.

The pace of real GDP growth fell from 2.4 in 2010 to 2 in the next four quarters, and then to 1.7 in 2012.

Annualized real consumption growth over the subsequent eight quarter period from the third quarter of 2009 through the second quarter of 2011 averaged 2.1 .

Over the last 18 quarters, annualized growth in real consumer demand has averaged a mere 0.7 , compared to a 3.6 growth trend in the decade before the crisis erupted.

To appreciate fully the unique character of this consumer demand shortfall, trends over the past 21 quarters need to be broken down into two distinct sub periods.

Recent improvements in data for industrial production, fixed investment, and retail sales suggest that the Chinese economy, which had slowed in recent quarters, may already be on the mend.

The housing sector has started to recover over the past five quarters, but from such a severely depressed level that its growth has had little impact on the overall economy.

Annual GDP growth in the first three quarters of 2010 averaged only about 2.6 and most of that was just inventory building.

But 350 billion is roughly what the financial sector as a whole earned in an average quarter during the credit boom and profit levels in recent quarters have reached or exceeded those levels.

It is the average annualized growth of US consumer spending over the past 14 quarters calculated in inflation adjusted terms from the first quarter of 2008 to the second quarter of 2011.

During the first three quarters on 2009, private venture capital firms invested less than 3 billion combined in this sector. The DOE invested 13 billion.

And even the current mini deal implies a significant amount of drag about 1.4 of GDP on an economy that has grown at barely a 2 rate over the last few quarters.

Economic growth in the United States during the first three quarters of 2010 was not only slow, but was also dominated by inventory accumulation rather than sales to consumers or other forms of final sales.

While the one time increase will appear in official statistics as a temporary rise in the growth rate, there is nothing to make that higher growth rate continue in the following quarters.

Over the last 18 quarters, annualized growth in real consumer demand has averaged a mere 0.7 , compared to a 3.6 growth trend in the decade before the crisis erupted. Never before has the American consumer been this weak for this long.

Although consumer spending has increased during the past four quarters, helped by substantial government transfer payments, the pace of spending growth by households was less than the overall pace of GDP growth, because households were increasing their rate of saving.

Second, this six quarter plunge was followed, from mid 2009 through early 2013, by 15 quarters of annualized consumption growth averaging just 2 an upturn that pales in comparison with what would have been expected based on past consumer spending cycles.

By contrast, the release of pent up demand in the current cycle amounted to just 3 annualized growth in the five quarters from early 2010 to early 2011. Moreover, the strongest quarterly gain was a 4.1 increase in the fourth quarter of 2010.

In the 19 quarters since the start of 2008, annualized growth of inflation adjusted consumer spending has averaged just 0.7 almost three percentage points below the 3.6 trend increases recorded in the 11 years ending in 2006.