A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

Optimists are oftentimes looked upon as naïve people. They are seen as glossing over the hard and bitter truths about life, they are regarded as being overly cheery when danger may very well lurk around the corner, and they lack the cynical edge that seems to aid in being viewed as shrewd or realistic about events and issues of the day.

From time to time, of course, that view is justified. But when the facts merit optimism, it is indeed the optimists who are shrewd and realistic. So let us once again praise the optimists and their view of the American economy:

U.S. payroll growth kicked back into gear in November, the government said Friday, in a report showing the labor market recovering from its post-Katrina weakness.

Employers added 215,000 jobs to payrolls last month, the Labor Department reported, up from a revised 44,000 in October. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had forecast a gain of 210,000.

The numbers gave the Bush administration reason to cheer.

"We have every reason to be optimistic about our economic future," President Bush said in a mid-morning news conference at the White House.

Bush said November's strong job growth was due to what he said was a policy of cutting taxes and restraining spending and pledged to continue with that strategy.

Now, this is not to say that there are no problems whatsoever with the American economy. As is well known, all economies--no matter what their states of health--have problems to face. As this report makes clear--not that you would need to read it to know--the federal budget deficit is a continuing source of concern. While the Federal Reserve is clearly on top of inflation concerns and while continued rate hikes should keep inflation under control, higher prices could conceivably threaten growth. And external events like an avian flu pandemic could certainly serve as a threat to the health of the economy.

But these dangers--or similar ones--could be said to exist during any period of prosperity. It doesn't change the fact that we are currently undergoing a period of prosperity.

So you have to ask: Why is it that we seem to be unaware of the fact that our economy is growing and that our employment picture is a healthy one--Katrina and its promised deleterious aftereffects notwithstanding? Is it because the Bush Administration has not sufficiently hyped up the economy? Surely, that is a reason--and it is one that has been complained about in this space before.

But the media need not wait for the Administration to sing the praises of the economy. They could do that on their own--and if memory serves, they were more than happy to do so in the 1990's even without much Clinton Administration prompting. Whether this is evidence of an ideological bias on the part of the media, I leave for others to decide. What seems incontrovertible is that it is a case of incompetence; both on the part of the Bush Administration for not sufficiently spreading justified optimism, and on the part of the media for having completely dropped the ball in its own coverage of economic issues.