WHO STOLE THE AMERICAN SPIRIT?

There is no denying that the current financial morass is deep and painful. But, looking back over the past century, it would be a stretch to rank the current problems as especially notable or dramatic:

• Right now we have an unemployment rate of 5 percent and headline inflation topping 4 percent.
• We have economic growth of 0.6 percent, extremely low consumer confidence and weakening consumer spending, small business optimism at a 28-year low, and a housing market that is showing declines in excess of 20 percent.

These are hardly statistics to celebrate, but they are a far cry from the crises of the 20th century, says Karabell:

• The unemployment rate in 1933 was 24.9 percent; seven years later, after the intensive efforts of the New Deal, it stood at 14.6 percent.
• The unemployment rate went from 4.9 percent in 1973 to 8.5 percent in 1977, and then nearly broke 10 percent in 1982.
• While the recent collapse of Bear Stearns shocked Wall Street, in 1933 alone 4,000 banks failed, and millions not only lost their homes but were rendered homeless.

The alternative to grime-encrusted lenses isn't rose-tinted glasses, but more equanimity about our weaknesses and our strengths would surely help us navigate.

Unfortunately, the problem with downward spirals is, well, that they spiral downward...

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