The productivity of our workforce will decline and although we will likely crawl along the economic floor for a while, in the end we may come to view an economic slump as an improvement.

FORBES: Dear Mr. President: STOP THE MADNESS!!

On Tuesday, Daschle wrote Bush, proposing to bring a scaled-back economic stimulus bill to the Senate floor.

CNN: Lawmakers vow to cooperate on economic stimulus bill

Economic stimulus legislation was pulled from the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon when it became clear that neither Republican nor Democratic versions had sufficient support.

CNN: Bush says he'll deliver $20 billion to NY

They said the sluggish pace of economic recovery and a sharply lower level of activity on the stock-exchange floor made celebrations harder to come by these days.

WSJ: Dow Keeps Hold on Record

Back in the '80s, Japan's supposedly scary economic rise was attributed to better schooling there until the allegedly lax U.S. proceeded to wipe the floor with this formerly threatening nation.

FORBES: Magazine Article

In the present economic circumstances, several of the prime minister's critics from within his own party might well cross the floor or, worse, mount a palace revolution to wrest away the party leadership.

ECONOMIST: The ungrateful Japanese

Distrust of the GDP numbers has prompted Capital Economics, a research firm based in London, to create its own proxy of economic activity, which includes electricity output, domestic freight volumes, cargo traffic at ports, passenger transport and floor area under construction.

ECONOMIST: Is China overstating its true rate of growth?