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This article originally appeared on Inc.com. 9 Reasons to Be Optimistic About the Economy By Gene Marks The economy isn't so bad. There are a lot of things going on that should put you in a better fnancial mood. I am a glass is half-full person. As I write this the Phillies are 17 games out of frst place but I still believe they can turn things around. My three kids are about to leave for college and I still feel confdent that I can pay their tuition bills without going bankrupt. And I just read that there's another Rocky movie on the way (this one centers on Apollo Creed's grandson) and I'm sure it'll be great. Oh, and then there's the economy. OK, I admit that the jobs report last Friday was disappointing. Only 162,000 jobs were created (more were expected) and most of those were very low paying or parttime. One analysis shows that the country needs at least 208,000 jobs to be created each month for the U.S. to reach pre-recession levels by...2020! And sure, there are other reasons to be gloomy. For example, consumer confdence fell and GDP growth is painful. The economy is growing at a 1.4 percent annualized rate and many experts believe the Fed will soon have to downgrade its 2013 forecast. There are lots of reasons why this is happening, most I believe it's primarily a poor business environment created by fscal uncertainty in Washington. No Such Thing as a Perfect Economy Let's be realistic. Human beings are never satisfed with their lot. This is why most men keep switching channels. And the media is never happy with good news. Look back at the reports during the so-called happy days before 2007 and you'll see plenty of pundits complaining about disappointing data, ruminating over corporate earnings, or warning about the next fnancial calamity to hit the markets. My dad always used to say that things are never as bad as they seem, nor are they ever as good as they seem. So I'm not overly bullish. Nor am I down in the dumps. Most of the business people I speak to seem to agree: If you're running a small- or medium-sized business, you will likely have an OK year in 2013. Investment advisor Doug Short says that "the overall picture of the U.S. economy remains one of exasperatingly slow recovery from the Great Recession" but even so, his big four indicators continue to rise. If you're like my small business you're probably making a living. You'd like to be doing better. But it could be a lot worse. In fact, it was a lot worse just a few years ago. And besides, there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about the economy. Here are a bunch of specifc things that should put you in a better fnancial mood: 1. The economic situation is pretty normal. For starters, all major economic indicators are (fnally) within a normal range, according to Russell Investments' Economic Dashboard. Mortgage delinquencies are still on the higher side and economic expansion is on the lower side. But market volatility is under control and everything else is "typical." Phew. 2. Housing has recovered. OK, housing starts took an unexpected downturn last month. But U.S. home prices rose 12.2 percent in May which was the most in six years, and a sign of a stronger housing recovery. Homebuilder optimism is at a seven-year high and the much-watched Architect Billings Index remained positive in June. 3. Manufacturing is showing signifcant strength. Orders for long-lasting U.S. factory goods rose in June, bolstered by higher aircraft demand and more business spending. That followed an upwardly revised 5.2 percent gain in May. An early read of July activity is showing that the U.S. factory sector continued to pick up steam this month. And the Institute for Supply Management reported signifcant jumps in both its July manufacturing and services sector indexes. Continued on page 50 V o l u m e 4 6 I s s u e 5 2 0 1 3 49