In January of 2007 President Bush said the economy was doing fine. Much later in the year the NBER said that the recession began in January. Was Bush lying or

In January of 2007 President Bush said the economy was doing fine. Much later in the year the NBER said that the recession began in January. Was Bush lying or did he lack foresight? Determining when a recession began usually happens after the fact because of how “recession” is defined.