HEADLINES

On any given day a huge number of articles and reports on the economic state of our nation can be found in magazines, newspapers and on the Internet. Every week on Thursday, the federal government discloses the latest number of Americans who have for the first time sought unemployment benefits. Unfortunately this weekly report number has recently been stuck in the range of 420,000 and negative news forecasts quickly follow.


Although this is unemployment report is depressing news, it does not stand alone when it comes to bad-news articles and particularly their headlines. Consider these headlines that appeared today:


1. 2011 MARKET CRASH IS COMING

2. NEW BANK RESERVE RULES TO SPARK GLOBAL RECESSION

3. OBAMA WANTS $600 BILLION IN NEW TAXES

4. RECESSION WILL RETURN NEXT YEAR

5. ECONOMIC SOFT PATCH NOT JUST TEMPORARY

6. US HEADED FOR EUROPEAN STYLED DEBT CRISES

7. WORLD ECONOMY TO COLLAPSE IN 2013

These various articles, to some degree, all gazed into the future and found nothing but bad news to report. It has to to be conceded that to some degree these negative lead-ins were intended to catch the attention of the reader so that the full report/opinion would be read. However, what is most bothersome is that these "headlines" came from some conservative sources and from some liberal sources and from some apolitical economists. The bottom line is that the poor/bad times the USA has experienced in the past 2-3 years are just not going to get better and almost all "experts" agree. These are not political tricks aimed at undermining BHO but real news reports and prognostications.

Prosperity will not gradually, on its own, return to America. Some drastic actions are needed and these drastic actions will require a reduction in the style of life of a great many of our citizens. A reasonable reduction in our life style will not turn our nation into a nation of poverty. Even with these reductions, Americans will still have more comfort items and comfort time than any other nationality on Earth.

However, the extravagance of American life will have to be moderated.

The above quoted headlines are meant to be noticed and the articles meant to be read. They combined cause some degree of concern which really needs to be acknowledged by our "leaders" and acted upon bravely.