Happy story time

David Leonhardt illuminates and (further) depresses.

The common thread in these myths is that they serve to minimize the scope of the economy’s weakness. They make it sound as if the problems are acute — job cuts, oil speculation, a little real estate overexuberance — rather than fundamental.

Of course, Leonhardt is using the popular usage of the word "myth," not its academic definition: a sacred story. What he really means is we're being bullshitted into thinking that prosperity is just around the corner. Go buy stuff, we're told, or we'll make young George Washington cry.