I'm happy to report that I've never been in prison. I can only imagine that the first few days and weeks are a terrible period of adjustment. There is no freedom, you cannot choose when to go outside or when to turn the lights off at night, and the food, I'm guessing, is awful.

But after awhile the newness probably wears off. It's still jail of course, and people still go through your mail, but you fall into a routine that becomes the basis of your daily life. You acclimate.

Welcome to the U.S. in the middle of the economic winter season. Six years after the official end of the last recession in June of 2009, we're still talking about when U.S. consumers will ramp up their spending. We need their participation to drive up growth, which has been abysmal.

Of course, the headlines today are saying something very different. They're saying how consumer spending is driving America's economy to new heights.

That view is based on the latest GDP report just released today. Second quarter GDP came in at 2.3% – whereas economists were expecting anywhere from 2.5% to 2.9% – and first quarter was revised to 0.6% from negative 0.2%.

When did an annualized 1.45% growth rate become a cause for celebration? That's pathetic!

The fact that this low rate of GDP growth is being discussed in glowing terms is what reminds me of jail.

When you're surrounded by terrible conditions for an extended period of time, you get used to them. Anyone claiming the latest GDP number is a good report has apparently forgotten what real growth is supposed to look like. Unfortunately, 1.45% is now the norm.

U.S. GDP has grown between 1.6% and 2.5% each year since 2009. So far, no amount of wishful thinking or positive spin in the media has been able to revive higher consistent consumer spending. But that doesn't mean people have, or will, quit trying.

During the worst of the downturn, foreclosures and credit card debt write-offs were common. There's nothing fun about either of those processes, but they do reduce private debt outstanding.