...my conversations with economists who have been worth listening to in the past I detect some skepticism about the consensus that we are in deep trouble, headed for still more, and that we are in a tunnel in which no light is discernible. They sense unreasoned panic among consumers, related more to media fixation on share prices than to an appraisal of their own economic circumstances. The overwhelming majority are paying their mortgages on time, and quietly but importantly benefiting from the collapse in oil and petrol prices. They are adjusting by prowling the aisles of Wal-Mart rather than up-market retailers. It might be less fun to share a pizza while watching a rented DVD than dining in style before a night at the cinema, but that sort of hardship is tolerable if unpleasant. That is not to say that there is no real suffering out there. There is, especially among the unemployed. But this isn't the 1930s, or even the early 1980s.
great article
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