Worst economy in 75 years?

Every day we read headlines and statistics about the slowing economy, many of which make some claim about this certain statistic being the lowest in 3, 5, 20, or 50 years. But I wonder every time I read these claims, "Is that so bad?" Is it so bad that home prices have dropped to the 2004 level? Or that consumer purchasing has dropped the most in a month since 9/11? Is it so bad that we've seen the most jobless claims since 1992? Certainly these things are bad signs, but shouldn't these be--more than anything--comforting? Isn't it a good thing that, despite all the gloom and doom we constantly hear, house prices are only down to the prices of 4 years ago? Isn't it good that consumer purchasing hasn't dropped MORE than the month following 9/11? And wouldn't we be so lucky as to go through the mild economic slowdown of the early 90s?

It would certainly be nice for the reporting agencies to put these facts and statistics into a more appropriate light to offer real meaning rather than just looking back through the past 30 years of economic history and finding the next worse thing. But it may even be more necessary to make sure that we, as consumers, realize that throwing up a time period to show the weakness of the economy may not mean what we first guess it means.

In other news, my savings account is at its lowest level since I opened it 2 years ago. Go figure.