It is no wonder that Americans everywhere are turning to the most unlikely of sources for economic predictions. Every news source in the world is reporting a different prediction, different turn of events, different outcome. Many of us have even turned to “trend forecasters” such as Gerald Celente, who claims to have predicted everything from the mortgage crisis to the dot-com boom ahead of time, as reported by New York Magazine. With the discrepancies in the news being broadcast on television, radio, in the paper, and online every day, it is no surprise we have all but turned our desperate faces to fortune tellers in the street.
On Sunday, the Associated Press reported that the recession seemed to finally be subsiding. Monday morning, however, Reuters countered with a report that the recession would probably last longer than originally expected. What is going on? Does anyone really know? Or have we just resorted to throwing out any prediction possible? After all, if the economy rebounds or it does not, someone will end up being right.
The big word on the economic street is “worried.” Wall Street worries about the banks. Oil stumbles due to demand worries. The government worries that bank bailouts are vulnerable to fraud. While the current state of the economy gives us much to fret over, what good is that worrying really doing? Couldn’t our time be spent in a more productive manner? As the wonderfully wise Ben Franklin once said, “do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” Worrying and anticipating and waiting and predicting will get us no where.
While it may not provide the comfort and immediate answers we seek, the solution may not lie in predicting the future of American economy, but rather in working hard for small successes; we may not know when the mortgage crisis will end, but we can put our efforts into helping those who have already been affected, with institutions like the new mortgage aid program, as reported by the Associated Press.
Instead, let’s all do our part to save the economy. Spend wisely, but do not waste. Invest, but conservatively. Think ahead, but throw out the crystal ball. Be environmentally friendly, but don’t throw out your Honda for a Hybrid just yet. Do your research, but stay away from the pessimism porn. And if you must worry, at least follow the infamous philosophy of Charles Schulz’s beloved Charlie Brown:
“I only dread one day at a time.”
