Economic Optimism vs. the Sequester

Most Americans haven’t realized it yet, but there’s a good deal of positive news about the economy. Four years after the nadir of the Great Depression, disposable income, consumer spending, and corporate investment are all expanding at a decent clip. Employers are hiring more workers, and, perhaps most importantly, the housing market, which has been the biggest drag on the recovery, is finally turning around. In some neighborhoods, such as the gentrifying neck of Brooklyn where I live, things are already going kind of nuts. But it’s more general than that. From Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles, in areas where the crash was most intense, the number of sales is increasing, prices are rising, and there are even reports of shortages of available properties.

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