FORTY YEARS AGO TOMORROW

REUTERS--“Investors seem to be overlooking the fact that many of the problems that sparked the crisis are still in place and there still remains considerable doubt about the sustainability of this still tepid almost-recovery,” Cuttone’s senior VP for strategic initiatives Bernie McSherry writes this morning, taking advantage of the anniversary of Woodstock to compare the mood today with the mood during the summer of love.

“As we look back through rose-colored granny glasses, Woodstock has been elevated to near-mythic status as a wonderful, utopian moment.” With the Panic of ‘08 passed, some folks are feeling goovy again, he notes, but ”no amount of tie-dyed optimism can clothe the naked truth that considerable risks remain.”

Foreclosure rates are mounting, banks still have a mountain of bad debt on their books, and the danger of a double-dip still exists. As we’ve have said a few times, there has been no natural, organic recovery of the economy. What there has been is a massive, historic, unprecedented safety net thrown under the economy by the federal government. But that hasn’t erased the issues.