They purged excesses in capital spending and inventory accumulation and happened every five years or so.

FORBES: Magazine Article

In China, on the other hand, inventory accumulation can go on for years before it negatively affects growth.

FORBES: Chinese Manufacturing Is Crashing

For example, the 3 percent growth in real GDP in the 4th quarter last year was almost two thirds inventory accumulation.

FORBES: Real Final Sales Tick Up a Notch

The weak 1st quarter number actually benefited from inventory accumulation, going back to the quarterly pattern prior to the 4th quarter.

FORBES: Pop Go Commodities; Dollar And Euro Deja Vu

While acknowledging that the reasons for inventory accumulation make them tricky to interpret, I would nevertheless argue that the economy weakened considerably in the 4th quarter of 2011.

FORBES: Forth Quarter GDP--Not As Good As It Sounds

New York and the country were in the throes of recession, which in those days normally was induced by excesses in inventory accumulation and plant over expansion, not financial mufti puffti.

FORBES: What $100 Got You In 1954: Lessons In Art And Growth Stocks

Both international trade flows and inventory accumulation could have been affected by disruptions caused by Hurricane Sandy, although a precise estimate of the effect of the hurricane on GDP is not available.

WHITEHOUSE: Advance Estimate of GDP for the Fourth Quarter of 2012