Consumer confidence is up, and the upcoming jobs report is expected to be the most positive in many months.
Why can't these economists just admit that things are looking good? I asked Ronald McNeil, the dean of the business school at the University of Illinois, Springfield.
Ronald McNeil: When you're in the money, you can make mistakes and get away with it. The degrees of freedom are greater. But when you're not quite in the money -- caution, care, all of that goes into the mix.
McNeil's comments were featured in a March 30, 2010, report on American Public Media's Marketplace.
Download a PDF of the article:
20100330-Marketplace-self-sustaining-economic.pdf
Listen to the report online
