Bluntly assessing the economy

So, we're going to "bluntly assess the economy" a couple weeks from now down in Long Beach - the folks at Reuters/AdvicePoint were kind enough to create the graphic that will appear in the right sidebar for the next week or so.
I don't know who the other participants are for the panel that I'll be on titled "Stepping into the Financial Blogosphere" but I'll find out later today - it should be a fun event.

This will be my first return to Southern California since our move northward almost exactly one year ago - I think our remote control for the entrance to the gated community in Ventura County where we used to rent should still work, so maybe we'll grab the latest foreclosure listings and have a look around the old neighborhood.

It always cracked me up to see people doing crazy things with borrowed money like tearing out perfectly good, brand new driveways to replace them with equally functional ones that better matched the landscaping theme they so desired.

It's much easier to "bluntly assess" the 2005-2006 economy than the current one, but I'll give it my best effort.

On a related note, apparently, things went well enough in New York that the folks at the Hard Assets Investment Conference have already asked me to speak at the next gathering in Las Vegas this September.

I understand it's lovely that time of year in Sin City.