I will continue to post and argue, until proven otherwise, that there is no recovery–that it is a myth. I am an optimist by nature but I also believe in dealing with actual reality (I know, that is so 1960s). Here is why I love Paul Krugman:

But there’s an even bigger problem: while the wheeler-dealer side of the financial industry, a k a trading operations, is highly profitable again, the part of banking that really matters — lending, which fuels investment and job creation — is not. Key banks remain financially weak, and their weakness is hurting the economy as a whole.

   And…

And here’s the thing: The continuing weakness of many banks is helping to perpetuate that economic distress. Banks remain reluctant to lend, and tight credit, especially for small businesses, stands in the way of the strong recovery we need.

   Last week, I wrote about how Wall Street–that would be the Goldman Sachs fraternity–is doing quite well but Main Street isn’t. Krugman adds an extremely valuable insight here–don’t watch what the Dow is doing…that is a distraction from understanding how regular Americans are faring. And when we don’t have banks able to lend and get people money to help create JOBS, the rest if total window-dressing.