The latest GDP figures for 4th Quarter 2016

Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.1 percent in the fourth and final quarter of 2016. This latest report is the third estimate of U.S. GDP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Real GDP for 2016 grew at a 1.6 percent. 

Here is my commentary on yesterday's report.

No Eastie Casino issues a "Declaration of Independence"

This in from No Eastie Casino!

A Declaration of Independence
WE THE PEOPLE of East Boston -- representing neighbors who have lived here their whole lives and those who have only been here a few years; "old-timers," newborn babies, and everything in between; bankers and builders; lawyers and full-time moms; every shade of skin color and country of origin; diverse religious beliefs and none at all; wealthy, middle-class and struggling to get by; drinkers of Dunkin', Honey Dew, and Market Café; gamblers and non-gamblers; married and single; from the Heights to the Flats to Jeffries Point; Eagle Hill to Maverick -- declare, with one voice:

• independence from financially compromised, predatory corporations who want to take what we have;
• independence from additional burdens to the ones against which we already fight -- an airport, two tunnels, gas tanks, a highway, pollution;
• independence from political structures that seek corporate profits above community engagement;
• independence from flashy bribes and promises of affluence that would have us give up a lot in exchange for a little;
• independence to make our own way and choose our own destiny as a neighborhood -- a destiny fueled by hard work, small businesses, our immigrant spirit, and our shared commitment to each other;
• independence to raise our children in a safe neighborhood free from unnecessary obstacles, temptations, and false hopes;
• independence to continue building an environmentally and economically sustainable future for our children and grandchildren;

WE THE PEOPLE of East Boston declare independence from a casino because it threatens that which our neighborhood's founders sought to build, what our neighborhood's servicemen and women sacrificed to preserve, what ordinary neighbors-turned-activists stood up to maintain, and what the present generation of East Bostonians both enjoys and seeks to build upon. We will not stand idly by as deals are made behind our backs that affect not only our lives but future residents' lives. It is in that spirit -- the same spirit in which a rag-tag group of dreamers envisioned and fought for their freedom 237 years ago just a stone's throw away -- that we declare today our independence from the false hope of a casino.