... What's with the optimism?

I was surprised to hear good optimism from some economists:

Mark Perry reports that global economic activity might be on the rebound. It's too early to report a definite trend, but let's hope that these raw materials purchase keep up.

And, a post at CalculatedRisk points out that retail sales increased from December to January. Though it's still off from its 2008 mark, the rise is a welcome change from previous news.

I'm honestly not sure these are indicators of anything, but the news is refreshing. Maybe the recession is nearing the bottom?

On another note, here's a piece from the Economist defending the field of economics. It's a well written piece, I think, particularly in light of the many other blogs talking about the divisions between economists (a good one on EconLog mentions the different types of divisions--it's not necessarily political, as many seem to think).