The Economy is Improving

What is good news? What is bad news? Of course the answers to those questions all depend on your perspective.

Case in point; When the Twin Towers came down, it was incredibly bad news for almost every single American. But the same event triggered shouts of euphoria and the handing out of candy and gifts in the Palestinian territories and other Arab countries.

With that being said, today we have found some good news in the Wall Street Journal....and both articles have to do with what the Federal Reserve has been up to.

The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee meets today amid lots of chin-pulling and moaning about the recent rout in the bond market. Wasn't the idea to reduce bond yields? What's going on out there?

Count us among the optimists who think this is good news, a sign that markets are concluding that the economy is improving as major policy obstacles recede and the risk of deflation vanishes, if it ever existed.

There are also risks to growth overseas as China tries to rein in its inflation problem, and of course from Europe. But given all of the damage imposed by Washington, the remarkable story is how resilient the economy has been.

This would not mean returning to a "tight" monetary policy by any historic definition of the term. It would mean acknowledging that the fears of a double-dip recession have receded, deflation fears were overwrought, and the best way to nurture the economy to a durable expansion is with a return to monetary normalcy.

See this article here; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703727804576017340607287086.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

The other article also concludes that the Federal Reserves recent announcement that it was printing $600 billion to buy Treasuries has actually been a GOOD thing.

It's titled; THE FED'S POLICY IS WORKING

The recent surge in long-term Treasury yields has led many to say that the Fed's second round of quantitative easing is a failure. The critics predict that QE2 may end up hurting rather than helping the economic recovery, as higher rates nip in the bud any rebound in the housing market and dampen capital spending. But the rise in long-term Treasury rates does not signal that the Fed's policy has backfired. It is a sign that the Fed's policy is succeeding.

See it here; http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703766704576009621740764118.html?mod=WSJ_newsreel_opinion

So could this all really be good news for all of us Americans? Could it be that we are soon headed back to "normal"...whatever "normal" actually means? Could our homes start building equity again...soon making it possible for us to use this new found wealth to buy more stuff? Could the stock market start building back investors 401K balances again so they can once more start dreaming of retiring to their sunny dream homes in Arizona? Could Bed, Bath and Beyond start opening stores once again, hiring back laid off employees, thereby providing jobs and a sense of well being?

If this is all true...could this recent news have anything to do with the fact that we have quit pressuring Israel about settlements...for the time being?

If this is all true...could it be that we are simply in the "eye of the storm"....and another shoe is about to drop?

I don't know...but I pray that these last few years of uncertainty has awakened many folks in the USA as to how helpless we all truly are...and that many, many of us have turned back to God...who currently sustains us by the power of the Holy Spirit.