Cognitive Dissonance Version 8.3

You can be forgiven if you are feeling a certain confusion about the state of play in the economy. What I have in mind are ongoing and ubiquitous stories about the economy that sport the term "recovery". The word recovery denotes a condition where a prior state is regained. How, then, can there be a recovery when job losses not only have not leveled off but continue to mount? Well, there can't be, but, as we live in a land of make believe, this sort of fantasy is commonplace. And, after all, it is the "holiday season" which always involves a certain amount of magical thinking.