Let me be the devil advocate for a moment. Given the recent unemployment number, is the economy on the mend or on the tank? If you were a campaign manager for Obama, you will say the cup is half full. If you were a campaign manager for Mitt Romney, it will be the cup is half empty. They can manipulate the stats to their own needs. If you were an ordinary folk like me, which would be the case, half full or half empty? There are thousands of PhD thesis on all kinds of statistics and economic indicators, so there you go. Tell me which is the true economic situation at present?