This article from last night on Bloomberg.com appears to miss the point and misstate the truth about the US and world economy. It states in blunt terms that the economy is so bad that it could not possibly enter into a second recession.
I think it actively tries, in best Polyanna fashion, to give us some perverted optimism. "We at the real floor of the economic cycle now, really, really." It does not attempt to respond directly to the critics of this point of view like Krugman and Roubini. Instead, it makes arguments such as "the markets have already priced in even worse economic numbers than we have today" and "growth will be 'subpar' for a prolonged period". Not good enough.
The real crisis is on Main Street now, not on Wall Street. Whether the markets have properly accounted for trends in macroeconomic data is besides the point. It does not help the long-term unemployed and it does not improve industrial capacity utilization rate. It doesn't help the large numbers of families still threatened with foreclosure.
We in the (temporarily?) economically healthy third world have a lot at stake in the US addressing its economic situation honestly and strategically. We cannot separate ourselves from the US's problems so easily. This misguided attempt at instilling confidence in the policymakers if not the economic reality does not help either the US or us.
