We can handle the truth

The American people are just plain tired of the lies at this point. No amount of the Fed goosing the economy is going to bring back the consumer without more jobs. It’s time to realize that the overall economy has decoupled from the stock market. Despite what the companies look like — flush with cash and impressive balance sheets — one is hard-pressed to find major industries with actual demand growth. It’s even rarer to find industries that are hiring people. Most of the newfound fitness in corporate America has come from cutting the fat and laying people off. But corporate belts have reached the last loophole. They’re as tight as they can get without cutting off their own circulation.

Let’s just call this what it is. It’s not a ‘Great Recession’ anymore. This is a classic depression — a state of the economy when individuals and corporations have to sell their long-term assets to fund current necessities. Let’s do away with all the double-speak and false confidence-inducing rhetoric (stimulus, quantitative easing, low headline inflation, jobless recovery and all that) and come out and level with the American people. Come on. They already know, and they just want you to say it. Surely there are a few good men in Washington who can handle the truth.