Double Dog Dare

I dare you to read this article from the NYTimes about the current economic situation without laughing in amazement as the writer lists the many positive economic indicators while insisting that the sky could fall tomorrow. For instance:

Americans have taken advantage of historically low mortgage rates to buy homes, refinance existing loans and borrow money for renovations or other household needs, all of which have been an important and substantial boost to spending, Mr. Shapiro said. While neither he nor others expect that activity to dry up, even a modest tapering off could knock growth down a peg or two. Mr. Shapiro, for one, says growth could drop from 3.5 percent in 2005 to 3.2 percent in 2006.

Well yes, and of course our alien overlords may have arrived by then (and I for one welcome them) and started their human flesh exporting business, so I guess you never know what could happen.