How 'Bout That Recovery

I'm not one of those people trying to gain fame and fortune from constantly preaching doom and gloom.  I wish we were pulling out of The Great Recession, and I believe that the stimulus is a good idea and that we need more (Regardless of the big headline this morning in which AP trumpeted that its analysis shows the stimulus hasn't done anything.  An analysis AP has yet to release, giving us only selected quotes from the economists AP selected to review the analysis.  What's with that?).  That said, I'm not seeing evidence that we're pulling out or that we will any time soon.

Today's case in point: Kiddie Kandids, the ubiquitous mall store for children's photos.  Not so ubiquitous now.  Employees got word last night that the stores weren't opening this morning and the company is diving into Chapter 7.  The company has set up a blog to provide updates, but all it currently amounts to is a press release, and it doesn't take feedback.

Another hole in the mall.  Actually, a couple hundred malls.  More dark retail space, more jobs lost, more bad loans, more of less.  The mere fact that a few thousand people are making a mint on Wall Street doesn't mean this economy has leaped from its sick bed and entered the decathlon.  Regardless what the pundits are saying, most people are in pain, and if the pain is reducing, it's only because people are going numb.