Bernanke Cautiously Optimistic For Recovery

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It isn’t easy earning trust as an authority figure these days. As consumers angry over the swift collapse of the economy (despite the fact that much of it was our own fault), we lashed out against “the man” at every turn. It wasn’t our fault that we spent the last few years spending way more money than we were bringing in, it was all of the awful horrible lenders that had the audacity to give it to us in the first place! The target list has grown, and now just about everyone from Ben Bernanke to the CEOs of large banks is at least one insult out of a list of many: Greedy, horrible, callous, or at the very least, incompetent. That probably explains why Bernanke has been quick to point out his reasoning whenever he speaks, and today we found out that he sees “tentative signs” for a recovery.

Specifically, these signs included some data on home and auto sales as well as home building and consumer spending. This isn’t to say that things are about to head back on track, but at this stage of the game anything that isn’t complete doom and gloom can be interpreted as a good sign. Less bad is the new good, as it were. Bernanke pointed out that “The current crisis has been one of the most difficult financial and economic episodes in modern history.” If this statement holds true and we’re on the mend, then I’d consider the country pretty fortunate. Things are bad, sure, but I haven’t seen anything like those black and white stills from the Great Depression yet. A recovery here would be welcome before things get worse.

Certainly the earnings coming out of the banking sector has thus far been fairly comforting. We saw quite a reaction when Wells Fargo went on to say it projected a $3 billion dollar profit, even if that profit was largely due to “special accounting treatment.” Goldman Sachs came out with some good news of it’s own, even as it also stated that it will be handing out some hefty salaries and bonuses.

It seems likely that we still have a long way to go, but thankfully I’m not in the business of crystal balls for the economy. Housing still has some issues that need to be worked out, and many consumers are still reeling from the hit to their 401ks and retirement accounts. After months and months of doom and gloom, however, I’ll gladly hop on the cautiously optimistic bandwagon hopefully heading to the light at the end of the tunnel.