In praise of: Optimism about the economy
DEL Brett has gone where many fear to tread. The boss of the new Future Inn hotel at Cabot Circus says the worst of the recession is over and Bristol will be unscathed.
His forecast is not shared by everyone. However, there is a view that utterances such as this can help the economy pick up in the same way that pessimistic talk brought us to the situation we find ourselves in today.
Confidence is a key factor in economic wellbeing and can be the catalyst for getting things moving again. Mr Brett may or may not be proved to be right, but it is hard to avoid the feeling that a few more positive voices could be just the thing we need to kick-start the economy.
Comments
by A Chege, Bristol
Thursday, May 21 2009, 8:11AM
“Optimism is good on a personal level. It is the hope for a better tomorrow that keeps us moving on even when there is no shred of hope left. Even the terminally ill still are optimistic of a cure.
But of economic recession, that is not at individual level. When the pounds tumbles against the Euro and dollar, an individual's optimism counts nil. When the house is being repossessed, optimism in an economic recovery does not apply. So too is when one is made redundant.
The rich can afford to be optimistic; they have resources to fall back to. But of the majority who await their weekly wages for a living, optimism is like a hangman's nooze. Encouraging customers to spend more to revive the economy is like leading the blind by a nose pin to commit to expenditures they only will have to meet in the future. The leaders have been claiming unimaginable expenses; have the common citizens been so lucky to splash? NO!
Therefore, the optimism is a blinker in the eye of the poor who cannot see that today's actions have a bearing on tomorrow's misery. Only the very secure- with no need for a wage- would be led to believe in the optimism of a downturn. Personally, I am optimistic, but I operate on the principle that the worst is yet to come. That way, I can built up cushions against any shocks that will arise, for I do not purview my situation any better/secure than that of fellow being being retrenched or being dispossessed. And if the politicians were to prepare us for an uncertain future, we would not be blindly taking credit cards, loans and overdrafts we have not way of repaying.
Call me a pessimist, but I can not jump into the spend spend mode as yet until I have saved enough to save me on the rainy day.”