Two years ago some thought that negativity was causing people to loose faith in the economy. I disagreed. I would like to be more positive about the future of our economy, but I am a realist. I believe we are making most of the same mistakes made by FDR following the last great depression which ostensibly began with the stock market crash of 1929, and the current crisis was created by many of the same factors that got us into the last great depression. Government mismanagement of the economy has been in effect for some time prior to the last Bush administration. Federal monetary policies, government regulations, and government’s attempt to manipulate economic forces have been responsible for disrupting the natural free market corrections that need to occur in order to avoid economic catastrophes.   According to a recent Pew report: “Some of the same pressures that have pushed California toward economic disaster are wreaking havoc in a number of other states, with potentially damaging consequences for the entire country. Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin join California as the 10 most troubled states, according to a new report.” NCPA [The Pew Charitable Trusts applies the power of knowledge to solve today's most challenging problems. Pew's Center on the States identifies and advances state policy solutions.]   If we start with the fact that America is no longer producing products that generate jobs and wealth, everything else follows as a consequence. ie “loss of state revenues; the relative size of budget gaps; increasing joblessness; high foreclosure rates; legal obstacles to balanced budgets -- specifically, a supermajority requirement for tax increases or budget bills and (6) poor money-management practices.” NCPA