I'm starting to feel hopeful about the economy and were our country is headed

[Geek_Girl]

am I being Naive?

I was adamantly against the bank bail outs. But I'm starting to believe that it was needed to bring our economy back from the brink. The job market seems to be getting better. The stock market is getting better and the housing market seems to be improving somewhat.

Is it too early to start feeling optimistic about where our country is heading economically?

[Richard D]

1. I was in a Fry's today . . .

Huge electronics superstore, and there were a lot of people buying stuff. So many I had to leave because I didn't have time to wait in line. I was there before Xmas, normally their busiest time, and the store then was near empty. Things are changing.

[demosincebirth]

13. Bad news for the GOP.

[90-percent]

2. Systemic Failures

There have been few to no laws changed to prevent this from happening again.

I would like to be optimistic, but I think it's inevitable another bubble will burst and wreck this turn around yet again. Once again with elites giving the crank another turn to squeeze out more money from the middle class and poor.

Laws musr be changed or enforced such that corporate executives are personally held to account for the crimes of their corporations.

but accountability is only for the little people. We have an elite that is above the law and is now starting to rub that fact repeatedly into our frightened little middle class noses.


-jim

[RKP5637]

9. +1000, n/t

[JuniperLea]

3. I'm with you, Geek_Girl!

I've always been on the hopeful side, however.

We're just damn lucky that 60% of us aren't standing in soup & bread lines right now. My great-grandmother raised 15 kids during the Great Depression, and let me tell you, I've heard some heart-breaking stories! We were on the brink... oh, yes we were. That we aren't in a full blown depression right now is nothing short of miraculous. We're not out of the woods yet, but I really do believe we're heading in the right direction.

The thing is, 99.9% of the people here do not understand the economy and how it all works. I'm not saying I do, mind you, but I'm smart enough to say that instead of grasping at talking points and pretending I do! I do know that during the Bush mis-administration it was abundantly clear to me that all those "great" mortgages Bush touted were heinously dangerous... and if I knew, dammit, THEY knew!

Now we need to press for regulations... and keep on pressing... on and on until they come about. Otherwise we're doomed to do it all again.

Humans don't seem to be too smart about learning from history.

[RKP5637]

10. Ever so true! "Humans don't seem to be too smart about learning from history." n/t

[Mind_your_head]

4. Hope is good.

Putting the "stock market" and the "job market" in the same sentence IS being naive, imho.

[graywarrior]

5. I just ran the control board at a town meeting and apparently, they are

feeling the same thing. They are noticing more jobs in the community, more applications for home repairs and building, etc. They were discussing that they think congress will put more money into job development over the next few months than unemployment.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

6. In relative terms, yes it is improving (as expected)

There is little doubt that 2010 will be better than 2009.

It is 50-50 whether 2011 with be better than 2010.

There is maybe a 5% chance that any year in the next four will match a typical year of the Clinton administration and essentially 0% chance that any year of our recovery will match 1983 (the recovery from the last really big downturn.)

If you are in a deep enough ditch then a shallower ditch is a good thing.

The economy will be bad for a very, very long time.

But better than 2008-2009.

[mudplanet]

7. Short term, I'm with you. Long term - nothing has changed.

Without significant reform of regulation in the financial industry, which will probably require significant reform of campaign financing, I'm afraid that we're in deep do do.

[Warpy]

8. I said at the time the bailouts were vitally necessary

but they should have had strings attached the size of suspension bridge cables, which they didn't. While Obama added some strings to the second half of the TARP money, they weren't adequate to prevent the thing happening again and certainly not adequate to prevent executive embezzlement of taxpayer money in the form of bonuses.

While things have managed to stabilize, it's at the cost of unacceptable levels of unemployment and misery throughout all sectors of the working population. Corporations are still getting tax breaks to throw Americans out of work in favor of people in the third world.

Obviously, much remains to be done and I won't feel any optimism until we at least make a start at doing it.

However, if you think the GOP shrieked over a health plan only a GOP could possibly love, wait until their most sacred cow, Wall Street, comes under the most tepid of regulations.

[Geek_Girl]

11. I think the GOP would shriek over anything at this point

They are nothing but a bunch of partisan stooges.

[IDemo]

12. A few things keep me from being too optimistic just yet

1 - A complete lack of financial reform.

2 - Manufacturing jobs, which may pick up, will almost certainly do so in Guangzhou Province before Gary, Indiana.

3 - Oil prices will burble upwards with any economic increase, regardless of actual supplies or demand.

4 - Commercial real estate.

5 - Bankrupt, or nearly, states and cities.

6 - War.

[SocialistLez]

15. I'm with you on 1, ESPECIALLY TWO!! 5 & 6

Of course one reason for 5 is because of our unemployment rate. Less people paying income taxes (in states that have income taxes), people aren't out shopping as much (has an effect on sales tax), etc.

[Go2Peace]

14. We may get another bubble economy as we are still printing massive dollars

But the fundamentals still need to be dealt with. Nothing fundamental has changed, that means we continue our slide and should it appear we are out of this, the next crash will be even worse.

[RKP5637]

16. I think we're in the eye of the storm unless, as you said, the fundamentals change. With a

corporate owned government it might be difficult to get real reform IMO.