Where's the Silver Lining?

Remember nine months ago, when the economic news was terrible? Well, the economy hasn't gotten any better, and yet there's something missing from the news, an edginess about the economy's fate now absent.

Have you noticed a change in the economic news over the past year or so? It's a deliberately ambiguous question: The actual news has gotten worse, but the coverage of it has changed in tone. Today, reporters are eagerly looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. A year ago, and for a long time before that, they couldn't wait to get into the tunnel.

What changed? Yeah, like you need to ask. It has been fascinating, though, to observe the way reporters have tried to make bad news look like good.

WSJ: Desperately Seeking Silver Linings