Who Wants To Be A Capitalist?

Capitalists always get a bad rap.  It is much easier to blame our problems on greeedy capitalist oil executives or brand managers at P&G that somehow make us buy things we don't want than figure out what really is bothering us. 

Because what is bothering us cannot be the economy.  If we hit some tough sledding somewhere down the line (and we will) most of us will look back and this, for once, will really be the Good Old Days.  Because--

Real Growth for the first quarter was 5%.  That is huge.

Unemployment is less than 5%.  My father, a food executive, always wanted 6% unemployment because he could find somebody that was worth hiring.  His words, not mine.

Wages are rising more than inflation which is defined as real wages.

Bet you didn't know this one.  There are more autoworkers in the US today than in 1990.  In 1990 there were 955,100 people employed in the auto sector.  In 2005 there were 956,200.  They just didn't all work for Ford, GM or Chrysler.  Today they work for Ford, GM, Chrysler and Toyota, Nissan, Honda and BMW. 

The Dow bounced off its record high but I think it will make another run at it.

Oh, gas prices are really high but still not higher, inflation adjusted, then in 1981. 

So why are people so down on the economy?  Because we want perfection.  We want more money and more time and more stuff.  Which is not bad.  But it shouldn't overwhelm us. 

Coming off Memorial Day maybe we should think about the important things, not just money.