2 Views on the Future of the U.S. Economy

View 1:

• "There are going to be fewer stores, fewer factories, fewer financial services operations." - John E. Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia
  

• "There’s been no place to hide.” - Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial

View 2:

• "This country has never responded to a crisis by sitting on the sidelines and hoping for the best.” - President Obama

• "You’ve got to use this moment to retrain for jobs.”- Andrew Stettner, National Employment Law Project

These quotes, all from an NYT.com article today, clearly show the choice we have. We are at a fork in the road. The economists and financial pundits of the boom years never thought the good days would end. Now that recession winds are blowing, all that is offered is doom and gloom.

Others such as President Obama and Andrew Stettner are painting a different view. Which will you choose?

If you are wondering what today's 651,000 job loss #s means for you, it depends on your view of the world. A crisis offers opportunity to those who look for it. This is not the time to be thinking like the economists, now is the time to get retrained and benefit from the retooling that is going on in the American economy.

[chart from NYT.com]