By Suzanne Panoplos
Recent IPO events in the tech sector such as Solarwinds (SWI) and Opentable (OPEN) in addition to an increase in M&A activity across all industries seems to have brought new hope to those talking and writing about the economy. It is almost as if some economic prognosticator has seen his shadow and confirmed that there is only 6 weeks left until we officially begin to emerge from the recession.
Despite the positive outlook, we continue to be barraged with negative statistics ranging from a national unemployment rate that is 9.4 percent (California is at 10.9 percent), to pay cuts, mandatory shutdowns and forced vacations. We hear daily about the suffering across all sectors – from the automotive industry to farmers to every day workers like you and me. And, although layoffs seem to have peaked at the beginning of this year, a substantial number of companies have continued to shed employees over the last few months. Tech Crunch even has a tracker that monitors this activity.
I turned to a few of my contacts in the venture community to get their views on that burning question – when will it all end? I am sorry to report that the information I gathered was not very enlightening; in fact, the venture community seems to be polarized on the topic. One venture capitalist (VC) commented that he thought that the outlook was very positive, even in the short term, and indicated that there are quite a few deals that are “getting done”. Another VC was extremely pessimistic, indicating that we have at least another 12 months of weathering the current storm.
I think it boils down to one fundamental truth that we can be sure of – nobody knows. However despite the gloom and doom, I was determined to find a silver lining in this whole economic debacle. If you look closely enough, there are positive signs everywhere.
Various non-profit organizations report that voluntarism is up between 20 – 30 percent over the last year. It would seem as if unemployed workers are finding positive outlets for channeling their talents and time. Additionally, public libraries across the country have recorded a 30 percent surge in library usage over the last 12 months, give or take a percentage point depending on your location. And, the Consumer Confidence Index, an indicator that examines spending and savings activities to determine consumer confidence, posted a significant increase in April and an even larger gain in May with an index of 54.9.

Full economic recovery -- okay maybe not. But, if you are like me, you will continue to look for the gems among the ashes because I believe that optimism is the only way we can move forward. To quote former President John F. Kennedy, “When you have seven percent unemployed, you have ninety-three percent working.”