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May 20, 2021

Seven signs the economy is in repair

By Jason Buckland, Sympatico / MSN Finance

Okay, I’ll bite.

Everyone knows the economy sucks … and the media won’t let you forget it. God knows even I’ve been a part of the declaration of doom, decorating the web with stories of profits falling and unemployment blooming.

But, hey, why not throw this recession thing on its head for once, eh?

The Financial Post linked to an encouraging Bloomberg story on its blog yesterday that notes seven positive indicators of an economy in repair.

The post shows seven data graphs which, boosted by Timothy Geithner’s remarks that the U.S. economy has at least stabilized, certainly do exhibit some hopeful signs.

Included in the seven points are noteworthy cases to back Geithner’s claims; new home sales are up, both manufacturing and non-manufacturing business is doing better than expected and something called the consumer confidence index is sky high.

Not bad, right? And while most of the data out there is geared to the U.S. (which is geared to us, consequently, anyway), it turns out much of the world’s commerce is looking up, too.

According to Reuters, Canadian business bankruptcies have dropped “unexpectedly” in this year’s first quarter. Meanwhile, England’s Chancellor Alistair Darling says the British recession will be over come Christmas.

So, sure, maybe this doesn’t mean much to the thousands of laid-off Canadians or families struggling with credit card debt higher than Aretha Franklin’s cholesterol.

And maybe there’s even more bad news still out there than good: like here, here and here. But, come on, who can be mad at a story like this?

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Deirdre McMurdy

Deirdre is a veteran business journalist and born-again policy wonk. She has covered corporate and financial markets news for 20 years in both print and broadcast at the Globe & Mail, Maclean’s, CTV’s Canada AM and...

Gordon Powers

A long-time fund company executive, Gordon Powers now heads up the Affinity Group, a financial services consulting firm. Gordon was a personal finance columnist for the Globe & Mail for many years, has taught retirement planning...

James Havers

James is the senior editor of Sympatico / MSN Finance living in Toronto. He has worked for the Nikkei Shimbun (Tokyo), canoe.ca, AOL.ca, Canadian Business and other publications. Havers turned to journalism after teaching overseas.

Joe Lee

Joe is the product manager of Sympatico / MSN Finance. While attending a journalism school in New York, he never thought that dollars and cents would later rule his career as a journalist. Despite meeting several savvy money experts...

Dawn Cuthbertson

Dawn is assistant editor of Sympatico/MSN Finance. With caviar dreams on a tuna can budget, she’s always looking for ways to save for a down payment and contribute more to her RRSP with a little left over for fun...