Clark Howard wants you to stay optimistic during these tough economic times

You’re probably asking yourself “Who is Clark Howard?”. Clark Howard is a radio show host of a very popular nationally aired consumer program called The Clark Howard Show. It airs out of Atlanta from WSB 750 AM. Basically, Clark covers matters in consumer goods and services, kind of like a human version of Consumer Reports. He also covers a lot of financial information, savings, retirement, etc. His famous line is “I’m here to help you save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off”. I really advise everyone to listen to Clark at least one time or give him a couple of tries. But I was just recently visiting his website and I was looking at his show notes from this past Friday and he was talking about the economy and how people felt.

So here is the excerpt from his website:

The fine line between economic pessimism and optimism

Americans are typically optimistic, but right now most of us are under a cloud of pessimism. A new Bloomberg report finds that 40% of people think the economy will stay the same over the next year; 40% think it will get worse; and only 20% think it will get better. Another survey, meanwhile, shows there’s also great pessimism among the wealthy.

But the reality is that this is not the worst of times. Don’t get down on your country or yourself. Yes, we’re feeling pain at the pump and the grocery store. Yes, inflation is a problem again. But our overall picture is not so rotten.

The economy may be in a recession, but as recessions go, we’ve had much worse. Our competitive standing in the world economy is undiminished. Business corruption is at a tremendous low.

Entrepreneurs are leaving states that are hostile to business. Just look at California and its exodus of entrepreneurs to adjacent pro-business states. Overall as a country, we are “open for business” when it comes to entrepreneurship.

Bank of America, the largest issuer of credit cards, reports a 13% growth in credit cards being used for food and fuel. Clark is generally opposed to credit card debt. But it’s not his place to tell people to go to bed hungry.

For his part, Clark tries to advance a message that balances the pessimism with the optimism. He subscribes to something he’s believed since he was a teenager: Things are never as bad as they seem when they’re bad, and they’re never as good as they seem when they’re going well.

For more info on Clark Howard click here.

Visit www.clarkhoward.com

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