You are out of your freaking mind. Things are bad and about to get a lot worse. You speak of GM adding a 3rd shift, while another article I just read speaks of Chrysler having problems and possibly disappearing soon. Oh yes, on top of Saturn with GM. AND all of those dealerships. Sounds great.

I've been unemployed since July of 2008 and have only had one phone call (7 months ago). Many people in my situation are are getting vervous. Unemployment will have to end sometime! The help is great, but it won't last. So, what happens afterwards? Rent, food, bills...etc., especially when experts say things won't turn around for the better for years. 'Years"? Uhm, I don't want to upset anyone, but we don't have that kind of time! Experts are not living in the real world with the rest of us. Maybe they need to just to understand first hand the urgency.

This guy is obviously not an economist.  I enjoy his technical analysis and stock picking at times, but this commentary is just dreadful.

For real economic analysis, you should be reading David Rosenberg.  I am a financial planner, and follow him closely.  You can sign up for his free newsletter and analysis at www.gluskinsheff.com.

You are right about the unsustainability. But that does not mean it will turn in the right direction. None of the economists predicted where we are at now. So why should i believe that we can predict the future now? The hard cold reality is an economy is based on what is being produced. I ask what is being produced? This is one of the major faults of economics. It is based on economies that were running many years ago. Is there any record dealing with an economy that is based primarily on services? The second big fault or maybe the first depending on your perspective is that economics are based on rational and logical decision making. In my experience people are anything but rational and logical. Yes, I do see the irony in that last statement. What I am saying may well be just as superflu as what you say. So I ask again. Why should I trust numbers and equations that have proved inaccurate and flawed in the past? The reality is we are far less intelligent than we ever believed. We should be able to look back and just be able to learn this one thing from this fantasticly terrible event. And that thing is that we have no clue what we are doing. We like to believe that we are beyond "the world is flat" kind of thinking. But in reality, we are just prideful and stubborn and unwilling to admit that what we know is very little. And the little we know may very well be wrong.

All that aside, I enjoy seeing the way you try to process and analyze the data. Thanks and keep up the fun reading.

It all comes down to Greed.  Thank the big insurance companies and the bank.  What they are doing is called stealing.  Where are the criminal charges or do the laws only apply to blue collar workers?  Wake up america.  

Get rid of all benefits for Congress and freeze there salaries and lay one-half of them off.

Bull Market, Bear Market, Qtrly numbers, employment, unemployment, and Bernahnke and Obama recently said that things were looking up in Sept.... hmmm, anything will be looking up when you push 3 billion out on the table for one month... but it's the months that follow... so business was good for 30 during the cash for clunkers... the only people that made out on that deal was the dealers and the banks.... future production and future business will not be there, the govt bought it all...

Invest and spend your money on something, that's what the govt says, my question is what... what can I spend my money on that it is cheap enough that it will appreciate and be worth something 5 years from now...

The Govt, through it's ineffective watch dogs, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for spending and buying off of Congress to the tune of $75 mil, Wall Street, and the huge Mosolium Banks that adorn our nations largest city street corners, they didn't give us an economic cold, they gave America a huge dose of Heroine withdrawl... it'll be sometime before the monkey gets off of America's economic back...

The economic problems at hand are not something that will be cured overnight.

30 years plus of bad economics policies, a decline in manufacturing, government over regulation and tax policies that promote companies to go off-shore.

Not to mention our corupt incumbent government and lobbiest... that continues to get worse.  

It's a double edge sword, you need consumption for economic growth ...

You also need production in order to afford consumption and economic growth.

It is funny that how many common commentators point out the reality time and again but not one - NOT EVEN ONE- column writers point that out. The reality is that - despite esoteric  analysis being thrown around here, there and every where - unless there is a basic production/ manufacturing activitiy IN a country, that country can not (Yes CAN NOT) grow or sustain itself. No country can sustain itself - let alone grow - by cleaning each others laundary aka by ONLY relying on the service economy.There has to be a certain amount of manufacturing. The manufacturing activity in this country is amazingly low. I am very bewildered that why does no one point this in his/ her column. Are you guys being paid not to say that?!!!

Lets quit outsourcing America!!!  Bring the work back home!!!

Unemployment is realistically at about 37%, if you factor in those that cannot collect unemployment benefits because they were fired, those who give up or have given up looking for work, and those that are lucky enough to have a part-time job.  I predict that unemployment will reach about 66 % but the end of next year, and that should do it for the US.

Response to Ron B.  My wife has survived two rounds of lay off's.  She has had a reduction in hours and a stiff cut in pay.  I have not had steady work since August of 2008. These truths do not get revieled in the unemployment numbers. I have several friends that own various businesses and they are in "survival mode".  Their stress levels are off the charts as they struggle to make the bills each month.         ( These guys are high income earners ) As I drive around in Western Ma and on Cape Cod I see more Real Estate for sale ( not less ) and I also see more and more toys ( motorcycles, boats, etc.) for sale in people's front yards.  I also see more vacant commercial space for rent.  The only recovery is in the stock market and on the evening news and for those lucky enough to be flush with cash.   Absolutely none of the experts gave notice of the impending crash last fall.  Are we to believe these same people to tell us when the economy has rebounded?  It reminds me of all of the so-called experts telling us to " BUY THE DIPS"  when the internet bubble was bursting.  In the early 1990's there was a very painful crash in the housing/construction industry on the east and west coasts.   The experts did not even recognise the "resession" untill much later and then they said it was a "mild" one.  I know from personal experience just how mild it wasn't.  I have some frieds that think now is a good time to buy a house.  They might be surprised to see prices continue lower, maybe much lower.    I gave up long ago believing the experts.  They speak empty words to all of the people in this country and indeed the world that are experiencing real pain as they struggle to feed their families and hope that tomorrow is going to be a better day.  These are the kind of times that strip a person of hope, dignity and self worth as the job market tell's them again and again just how un needed they are.  I wish the best of luck to all of the people who are "hanging on".