Marie Cocco: Wrong Road to Recovery

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from Truthdig:




Wrong Road to Recovery

Posted on Apr 14, 2009
By Marie Cocco


If you listened closely, you could hear the country exhale these past few weeks as Americans opened their 401(k) statements and began to believe they might just be able to retire at 70 or 72—instead of 80, as it seemed just a few months ago.

Cable television, especially the business network CNBC, is breathlessly telling us that stocks may have “hit bottom,” while stories about Wall Street again feature quotes from analysts who say that now may be the time to “get back in,” so long as people pick and choose their investments carefully. As the markets closed for Good Friday, the S&P 500 had soared 27 percent since March 9, the fastest gain that the broad index of American stocks had posted since the Great Depression.

Even President Barack Obama, who at times looked and sounded positively shaken during those first few weeks after the election when he was learning the full depth and breadth of the economic crisis he would be inheriting, has helpfully offered the assessment that he sees “glimmers of hope” in the economy.

So why is this giving me the creeps?

Because we’ve been here, done this. And it didn’t work out so well. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090413_wrong_road_to_recovery/