My folks just filed for bankruptcy. They just watched what they describe as thirty years of hard work disappear in a flash. In fact, if I might be a snarky daughter hiding behind a blogias, it was 10 years of hard work, followed by 20 years of living off the proceeds and ignoring all warnings that it was not a fully self-sustaining enterprise. The downturn did them in, but better planning and closer management over the years would have left them in a much better position to survive the crisis.

Given that recent experience, I'm feeling a tad more negative about things - for no better reason than the knowledge that instead of any hope of help putting my kids through college, I need to be thinking about helping five people in retirement, not just three (we are already helping my MIL). This will affect my kids choices in school. (They will be fine, but some of the more glittering prospects are fading out.)

I do think the economy is on the upswing, that the feds intervention basically worked and that things will get better. However, I have a dark suspicion that we, as a country, are a bit like my folks. We have pockets of hard work and enterprise, but there is also an awful lot of coasting going on - and that will catch us up eventually.