Financial Reversals

-- Rising home prices are bad, and so are falling home prices. As home prices rose through 2006, newspapers across the country ran stories bemoaning the lack of "affordable housing." Now that prices are falling, newspapers across the country are running stories about the disaster of negative equity, the loss of what used to be a reliable investment and the financial havoc caused by the assumption that home values would keep climbing forever.

-- Rising oil prices are bad, and so are falling oil prices. Last summer, with crude oil going for more than $140 a barrel and gasoline over $4 a gallon, politicians were falling all over one another to do something about rising oil prices, which made food and a wide range of other products more expensive. Now oil is around $60 a barrel, but instead of celebrating we're supposed to worry, because the price reflects fears of a prolonged worldwide recession.

-- Consumer spending is bad, except when it's good. Until recently, economists bemoaned the nation's low saving rate, warning that Americans were living beyond their means, enjoying a spending spree subsidized by foreign capital. Now the problem is that Americans are spending too little, saving or paying down debt instead of buying stuff they don't need and thereby stimulating the economy.

Feeling confused, anxious, uncertain? Well, cut it out. That sort of thing is bad for the economy. If you want to shorten the recession, you'd better be confident and optimistic. Just don't overdo it.