Another jolt of optimism.

... Well, as long as you don't listen to people in front of government. Ben Bernanke recently gave a mixed look at the economy. Assuming effective government action, he says that the second half of this year will have a "gradual resumption of growth." It really does sound like he's pushing for more fiscal policy, backing up Obama's plan. I can't help that it's more politically motivated than economically.

A number of people are starting to report good news, even though the government's fiscal policy hasn't kicked in yet. This shouldn't really come as a surprise, though, since historically fiscal policy comes too late to have much if any effect on the end of recession. Irwin Kellner at MarketWatch lists 21 reasons to be optimistic about the economy.