The American mood: Is the angst bottoming out?

[babylonsister]

The American mood: Is the angst bottoming out?

TED ANTHONY | April 11, 2009 10:05 AM EST | AP



CLIFTON, N.J. — Friday night in northern New Jersey, circa April 2009, offers clues to prove any theory about the American economic meltdown, depending on what you want to believe. Just like so many places these days.

Craving optimism? Watch the tour bus emptying into the La Quinta lobby off Route 3, its occupants abuzz about their weekend sightseeing jaunt into Manhattan. Or see the hungry diners spilling out the door of Carino's Italian Grill in the Clifton Commons shopping center _ a line of customers waiting to put their money into the consumer economy.

Want some economic angst? That's easy, too. Drive straight up Bloomfield Avenue into Glen Ridge, Montclair and Verona. Gaze at the empty Volvo and Jaguar dealerships and the deserted bank. Contemplate the thinned-out blocks of storefronts, defunct restaurants, abandoned shops and "For Lease" signs in one of the region's more affluent areas.

More doom on the horizon? Or will happy days soon be here again? Take your pick. The confusion is enough to play havoc on a person's mood _ or an entire nation's. "Everybody is looking at it through their own personal lens," says Liza Dawson, a self-employed literary agent from Glen Ridge.

In hard economic times, Americans turn to numbers to see whether things are getting better. Gauging the mood of the republic is not as quantifiable. It is not measured but sampled. Yet the human factor can be crucial. An improving outlook can increase confidence and nudge prosperity along.

In recent days, just as we've seen tantalizing, oh-so-subtle hints the economic distress might be leveling off, a smattering of signs has emerged to suggest the national bad mood of recent months may be _ and note we say, quite carefully, MAY be _ bottoming out.

more...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20090411/mood-of-the-meltdown/

[GoesTo11]

1. How can angst bottom out with 90% unemployment looming

not to mention when Dow 30 refers to its value.

[babylonsister]

4. 90% unemployment? Where is that?

I know it's bad in certain areas of the country, but that figure is a bit high, no?

And here in TX, you'd hardly know there's a recession. I don't know why.

[GoesTo11]

5. It is a little high.

People are worrying about the end of society, which seems kind of silly to me. On the other hand, as long as you are out of work or seriously worried about losing your job, or as long as you have no idea how you will ever retire, there's good reason for angst.

[Metta]

2. No, it's being under reported and symptoms equaling cure.

No angst? Tell that to the millions who've lost their homes and jobs and don't have health care.

[Fovea]

3. I spent the last five minutes screaming obscenities

at the tv.

Angst, check.
Murderous rage, check.

[Two Americas]

6. what is meant by that

All of the chatter about good times, optimism, the economy, etc. refer to the upper 10% or so of the population - how they feel, how they see things. They are the only ones that matter. The rest of the people may as well be invisible.


...

[maryf]

7. Living in the northeast

I've noticed we haven't been hit nearly as badly as many other places......and Northern New Jersey is extremely well-off, upper 10% of the populous in general...this is just a beginning I believe...

[katty]

8. just ask the homeless in tent cities-hey, are you optimistic?

[soryang]

9. Knowing that criminals control Obama's Treasury is soothing

The rip off is ongoing. Derivatives anyone? Don't you want to refinance now? Free trade? H-1b? We're so post industrial, you know.