Reverse Our Ways!

An idea we've explored much in our current unit deals with how to fix the economy during difficult times. There is not a simple answer, and there never will be. After browsing through a few articles in the New York Times which talk about our economy's current situation, nearly all of them seem to convey the same plan to fix it. Americans need to reverse the way in which they are responding to this depression.
One article titled "A Downturn Wraps a City in Hesitance" focuses on one location, Portland, where everything is going wrong. Falling house prices, weak consumer spending, and falling investment are really taking a hold of this city. The article only suggests that by acting this way, Portland will only fall deeper into this spiral of depression. It can only be solved by acting in the exact opposite way. Housing values need to rise, people need to put money into the economy, and the stock market should must be refueled.
Portland is described as a place that, "has long attracted investment and talented minds with its curbs on urban sprawl, thriving culinary scene and life in proximity to the Pacific Coast and the snow-capped peaks of the Cascades" (Goodman 1). Large companies like Nike and Intel employed tens of thousands of Americans in Portland and finding a job in this innovative city never proved to be an issue. The city seems have to have completely shut down in this respect, however, as unemployment rose from 4.8% to 9.8% from 2007-2009. The reason a city that always thrived so efficiently is now falling into a deep hole is because psychologically, the city is not acting like its usual self.
No one knows exactly how to solve the economy, but several articles suggest that at this time, the best thing we can do is reverse our ways. Everyone is afraid, and things will only get worse, ironically. America needs to start spending, and housing prices and the stock market need to level off. It seems as if the only thing we can do to save the economy is face our fears and act inversely to what our heads tell us to do.

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/27/business/economy/27portland.html?fta=y