If you’ve been too happy and upbeat lately and you need a good dose of gloom and doom, read USA Today’s article, A 'fiscal hurricane' on the horizon. Lots of talk about all the disastrous things that could happen unless we act now to fix it. (“Fix” always means raise tax rates, cut spending, or both; for some unknown reason, robust economic growth is never a consideration to these folks.)
On the other hand, if you need a rest from gloom and doom, read Brian Wesbury’s article, Baffled by Economic Pessimism. Here’s a snippet:
Pessimism about the economy is rampant, but baffling. From 30,000 feet, the US economy looks fabulous. In October, household employment rose to 142.6 million, an all-time record high. Lately, initial claims have fallen back to pre-Katrina levels of about 320,000 per week, roughly 2.2% of total employment, a percentage not seen since the late 1990s.
Then he lists a lot of other good news that should be perking us up.
I’m listening to what both sides have to say. But I must admit that I strongly prefer the optimism and faith-in-the-future of people like Brian Wesbury and Ray Kurzweil (The Singularity is Near) to the pessimistic defeatism of the folks in the USA Today article. Happily, the economic evidence, for now, is accumulating in favor of the optimists. As a result, unlike USA Today, I’m not terrified. There are too many positive things happening, such as the strong growth trend in federal tax receipts—and they are happening right under our noses.
