Despite many ominous portents in the US economy, officials have been hesitant to say the U.S. is in a recession, as the FINANCIAL TIMES recently reported in their series, "The Big Freeze":

The US economy remains in limbo: neither pulling away from nor succumbing to pressure from the credit squeeze, falling house values and high oil prices. With only one quarter of negative growth — the final one of 2007 — the jury is still out on whether the US has had or will have a recession.

Ordinary Americans, though, are feeling the squeeze. Bob Herbert, of the NEW YORK TIMES, and Dean Baker, of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, join Bill Moyers on the JOURNAL to discuss the U.S. economy and the economic hardships facing the nation's underpriviliged and, increasingly, it's once-secure middle class.

Bob Herbert joined THE NEW YORK TIMES as an Op-Ed columnist in 1993. His twice a week column comments on politics, urban affairs and social trends.

Prior to joining The TIMES, Mr. Herbert was a national correspondent for NBC from 1991 to 1993, reporting regularly on THE TODAY SHOW and NBC NIGHTLY NEWS. He had worked as a reporter and editor at THE DAILY NEWS from 1976 until 1985, when he became a columnist and member of its editorial board. Herbert has also published a collection of essays, PROMISES BETRAYED.

He began his career as a reporter with THE STAR-LEDGER in Newark, N.J., in 1970. He became its night city editor in 1973.

Mr. Herbert has won numerous awards, including the Meyer Berger Award for coverage of New York City and the American Society of Newspaper Editors award for distinguished newspaper writing. He was chairman of the Pulitzer Prize jury for spot news reporting in 1993.

Dean Baker is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC. He previously worked as a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute and an assistant professor at Bucknell University. His blog, BEAT THE PRESS, features commentary on economic reporting. He received his Ph.D in economics from the University of Michigan.

He has written numerous books and articles, including THE UNITED STATES SINCE 1980, Cambridge University Press, March 2007; THE CONSERVATIVE NANNY STATE: HOW THE WEALTHY USE THE GOVERNMENT TO STAY RICH AND GET RICHER, Center for Economic and Policy Research, 2006; SOCIAL SECURITY: THE PHONY CRISIS (with Mark Weisbrot), University of Chicago Press, 1999.

His book GETTING PRICES RIGHT: THE BATTLE OVER THE CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (M.E. Sharpe, 1997) was a winner of a Choice Book Award as one of the outstanding academic books of the year. He has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, and the OECD's Trade Union Advisory Council. His columns have appeared in many major media outlets including the Atlantic Monthly, the Washington Post, and the London Financial Times. He is frequently cited in economics reporting in major media outlets, including the NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, CNBC and NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO.