Federal Reserve's Beige Book Paints Beigey Outlook for the Economy

Today the Federal Reserve released the Beige Book, a biquarterly overview of the U.S. economy, so named because beige is the color of despair.

Say what you will about the Fed's recent actions, but our central banking system has its fingers firmly on the economy's fading pulse…

The U.S. economy continued to weaken into 2009, a Federal Reserve report released Wednesday showed, as consumers appeared unswayed by deep holiday discounts. [...]

Activity declined "in a wide range of manufacturing industries," the Fed said, while housing "continued to worsen," commercial real estate "deteriorated" in most regions, and even tourism slowed or declined.

In other news, being punched in the face is painful, and yesterday was Tuesday.

"Most districts reported that layoffs continued," the Fed said, while "New York noted that a substantial number of job reductions in the financial sector have yet to show up in payroll statistics."

Okay, let me amend that.

Being punched in the face is painful, and tomorrow is Thursday.