While that writer says, with tongue firmly in cheek, there is reason to feel at least some what good about the economy - that things aren't much, much worse - I am a Pollyanna on the economy for a variety of reasons.
Just weeks ago many economists were predicting we were headed for a double-dip recession. Instead, the economy's growth accelerated during the third quarter, almost doubling its growth rate from the previous quarter. Initial jobless claims have been hovering just above the 400,000-level for the past several weeks, which is just above where we need them to be before we can expect really strong job growth. Even as oil prices have soared a good bit over the past couple of weeks, gas prices have not followed suit. And according to a recent survey by Gallup, there's reason to believe the unemployment rate might just drop below 9 percent when it is reported next Friday morning, though, obviously, that is no guarantee. And maybe best of all is the news coming out of Europe, which seems to be finally taking solid steps to handling its debt crisis. It may not be a magic bullet, but it maybe enough to stop whatever is ailing them from compounding our problems here.
Is the economy where we want or need it to be? No. There's a long way to go. But all of the conditions above are necessary for us to have a chance to move into a better day sometime soon. The economy has to be able to crawl steadily before it can walk, which includes periodic fits and starts. It might just get to its feet earlier than any of the experts have been predicting. That would be welcome news.
