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I'm not sure if this is because of Obama or because it's a new year. Either way I'm not as optimistic as them.
I dont know. My local paper today was refreshingly pessimistic about 2009.
I know what you mean though. I think they believe that rose colored glasses will lead to a self fulfilling prophecy. You know, build confidence in the market and all that. They dont seem to care that false confidence in a market that lacked real value is what got us into trouble in the first place.
I'm not sure if this is because of Obama or because it's a new year. Either way I'm not as optimistic as them.
sorry lulu but that is a ridiculous generalisation. if you read through these threads you will find lots of criticism of the media. some accuse them of being merchants of doom and others accuse them of over optimism. the truth is that the mainstream media presents several different views on the issues and i don't think that there is any consensus in the mm that 2009 willbring good financial news!
Yes, I would have to agree with 58robbo that I've seen and heard both sides of the coin in mainstream media. Just a sign of the times - they are just as uncertain about how everything will play out as the rest of us.
having been in two recessions in the 70's ;I have top say this is a strange one.Unless you have loss your job or been really investing at high risk rate or already in trouble with debt ;I don't see many hurting like the past ones.The double digit inflation in the 70's recession really hurt everyone bu this point.
No, the difference is they were hyping the recession while the election was going on and Bush is still in office. They now are optimistic about 2009's economy solely because Senator Obama, their chosen candidate since before the Democratic Convention, is to take the oath of office. I wonder if Chris Mathews still has that thrill running up his leg every time he hears Obama speak. If so, then no one sit next to him at a White House dinner unless he or they are wearing a raincoat.
I don't want to be a doom and gloomer but I believe 2009 to be a difficult year. All the optimism centered around the massive stimulus packages around the world may be misplaced. Governments have never been efficient allocators of capital and printing money and dropping it from helicopters has always led to serious consequences. A lot of key industrials have significant over capacity that has to be dealt with. Consumption will decline in major economies as wage growth is non existent and unemployment grows. Retail bankruptcies will lead to problems in commercial real estate. Hard for me to make a case for a strong 2009. Hope I am wrong !!
having been in two recessions in the 70's ;I have top say this is a strange one.Unless you have loss your job or been really investing at high risk rate or already in trouble with debt ;I don't see many hurting like the past ones.The double digit inflation in the 70's recession really hurt everyone bu this point.
I think this is what the OP was talking about. It doesn't seem so bad now, and that is partly due to the media. I believe we are still at the beginning of this thing. The media likes to talk about how we will be on the upswing by the 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2009. I think we will be lucky if we are on the upswing by 2nd or 3rd quarter of 2010. Unemployment will reach double digits and many more companies will fold. All this money being thrown into the system is simply slowing down the process. Oh, and as to the inflation of the 70s you were talking about, we will see that too before this is all over. When we finally do break the cycle, all these new dollars in the system will come back to bite us. I wouldn't want to have any variable rate loans in a year or two.
The recession of the Carter years included over 11% unemployment and double digit inflation and yet some in the press were saying this is the worst recession since the great depression. They overhyped this recession because of their hatred for President Bush but once Obama is sworn in as President then their stories about the recession will virtually disappear.
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