When Double Dippers Become Economic Party Poopers

They're a minority, but a vocal one, and they're hovering like storm clouds over a brittle recovery.

FILE - In this July 29, 2010 file photo, President Barack Obama addresses the National Urban League 100th Anniversary Convention in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

(AP)

They're the Double Dippers — the politicians, economists and analysts who foresee back-to-back recessions.

Their warnings could become self-fulfilling prophecies if they frighten enough people into holding tightly onto their wallets. With consumer spending accounting for two-thirds of economic activity, anything that further rattles consumers can undercut recovery hopes.

Recent data has shown that, after growing moderately for most of the past year, the U.S. economy appears to be slowing. This was underscored by Friday's government report that U.S. economic growth slowed to 2.4 percent from April to May, down from a revised 3.7 percent in the previous quarter. Such statistics are providing more ammunition to the double dippers.

Most mainstream economists agree the recovery road will be long and bumpy, but probably without leading into double-dip territory. But there are plenty of other voices warning of grimmer times ahead.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman of Princeton University argues in his New York Times columns that the U.S. already may have fallen into the early stages of a long, deep depression such as Japan's "lost decade." He claims that President Barack Obama and Congress have failed to provide enough stimulus spending.

To University of Maryland business economist Peter Morici, "signs abound that the economic recovery is faltering." Washington-area financial adviser Randy Beeman tells listeners to his weekly radio show that chances of a double-dip recession are now about 75 percent.

Yale University economist Robert Shiller, a leading expert on the housing market and author of "Irrational Exuberance," a 2000 book that foretold the coming crash of the tech stock bubble, sees more than a 50-50 chance of a double dip. "I actually expect it," he says.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told CNBC a double-dip recession can't be ruled out. "Of course, there's a possibility," he said.