oh it's very definitely a debate over here--big time!!  This is one of those debates where fortunes can be made and lost, and a lot of smart guys are doing their best to figure it out, and be on the +fortune side of this.

It amounts to self-serving self-suggestion: keep on spending money (to our profit) you don't have, all will be well.

One other place where I think we disagree, (and with Migeru as well) is on this point of the main stream media having any real influence over the investment community.  On the one hand, I definitely agree that MSM has points of view and pounds them unmercifully.  But no serious investor pays attention to that rubbish, nor do people running the major businesses in the US, and around the world.  Referencing Migeru's comment

The facts don't matter, only consumer and investor confidence matter.

 I only wish that were true, because I'd be wealthier than Bill Gates if it were.  Consumers will also make decisions based on their personal situation--income, expenses, etc.  Yes some small short term influence which people try to gauge with consumer confidence,,,,,,but the facts catch up quickly with those consumers ignoring their personal situation and looking at the world through rose colored glasses.

And those investors, CEO's who call the trends correctly, are invariably the winners.

It's about understanding reality,,,,,it always has been--IMHO.