More Evidence for Optimism Than for Pessimism

From The New Republic, an article by economist Stephen Rose (author of “Rebound: Why America Will Emerge Stronger From the Financial Crisis”) titled “The Morning is Coming: Four Reasons Why the Economy Will Roar Back to Life”:

“Our open economy encourages risk tasking; just ask the people behind the formation of 600,000 new businesses each year and the nine million who are self-employed. Because of this, we have a positive inflow of scientists and entrepreneurs—approximately one-quarter of the founders of Silicon Valley startups were non-Americans. And we have a great infrastructure for growth: an educated work force; many of the best universities in the world, which attract lots of foreign talent; access to capital; a good legal system; and an open society that encourages change. Europeans understand that Microsoft, Cisco, Apple, Intel, and the whole Internet revolution could not have started in Europe because businesspeople there are more risk averse and reluctant to build new relationships. And we have a thriving middle class that is ready to move, change jobs, and try new products.

If you look at the American capitalism since World War II, there are ample grounds for optimism. The U.S. economy has experienced almost continuous growth, punctuated by infrequent recessions, from which we have emerged stronger than ever.

Despite the green shoots, and the history of America quickly rebounding from other recessions since 1945, unexpected events could still slow the recovery. But I think the weight of evidence is on the side of optimism rather than pessimism.”

Read the whole article here.

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