Confidence in US Economic Recovery: A Challenge for Writers

Does the sentiment of an average "Joe" in America important to US economic recovery? The emotional state of the American people now is so critical. In fact, the ability of the US government to lead the nation out of the recession will depend largely on its capability to make the American people feel happy. In other words, confidence is an important determinant if the economy will pull out of a recession.

A typical American family will tend to boost their purchases when they feel very confident about their financial situation. When they hear negative news in the media, the family will tend to curtail expenses expecting hard times ahead. If they hear their friends being laid off and unable to find jobs right away, it signals them to take a hard look at their own jobs.

The negative outlook of many Americans today indicates that the US is increasingly becoming agitated in the present conditions of the economy. CNN gathered many polls and reported some facts revealing a decline in confidence of the American people. The highlights are in the CNN article entitled "Recession Snapshot: Facts, Attitudes and Analysis. Out of those surveyed, the following percentages indicated showing non-confidence:

-13 % are not confident to pay their current debts.

-29 % of workers are afraid of being laid off.

-19 % are not confident to afford their current standards of living

-10% are not confident to meet their mortgage payments

-36% are not confident to meet their emergency medical bills

-40% of parents are not confident to continue to pay for college tuition fees of their children.

-32% of families are not confident to afford the current spending on basic necessities such as food and medicine.

The lost of confidence of a large percentage of Americans consumers will have a trickle down effect on the business and banking arenas. Business owners will reduce their overhead. Businesses will delay expansion plans that will generate jobs. Business firms will lower their inventories, freeze wages, and lay off workers. The actions of businesses will affect the lending activities too.

Investors, those with the needed money and capital, will not make a step to purchase equities to make the business climate vibrant.

5 Action Plans for Media

In such gloomy economic conditions, the media has a critical role to play to boost confidence of the American people.

1. Writers must be resourceful to find stories on American ingenuity.

2. Writers must clamor for positive reporting in their network's content.

3. Writers must identify firms who are thriving in current times and write their success stories.

4. Writers must look for new topics focusing on stress relieving activities and tips.

5. Writers must search for lessons learned from other countries experiencing recession.

Conclusion

Confidence of each economic agent in a country is an important determinant to economic recovery. The media and its writers must contribute to enhancing the economic climate in this critical time. America, even though it is in an economic crisis, needs moral support from each other to get through these difficult times. As a writer, we must think how we can boost the confidence of the American people. News content of major networks must be bombarded with success stories of American companies in the face of adversities. The Obama administration must be challenged for a positive "image build up communication" plan. America needs a battle cry of "confidence" so it can remember that it is a land of opportunities.

Source:

"Recession Snapshot: Facts, Attitudes and Analysis ", CCN.com