Is Confidence the New Con Game in Town?

Right now everyone has solemnly agreed to disagree on how to resolve our economic meltdown. The administration says put in more ( as in money into the economy). The opposition in Congress says take out less ( as in taxes from the rich). One would pump new money into the system from the bottom up, while the other would let saved money trickle from the top down.

Now if you poke through this clutter of clashing numbers, you may find at least one gospel in common. Today's mantra about getting our confidence back. Described in different words -- hope, hustle, gumption, mojo -- confidence seems to be everyone's deal-maker. Get it back again and we get the system going again. Investors begin investing, consumers begin buying, banks begin lending, international trade begins flowing.

When President Roosevelt called for renewed confidence back in the 1930s, he put is this way: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." President Obama has now uttered several memorable calls-to-confidence, although only time will decide which one endures in our children's history books.

Just like the many spontaneous neighborhood acts of sharing back in the 1930s, similar gestures are beginning to bubble up today. The media are doing their part to find and feed these inspiring making-a-difference stories to us ( proving that their usual if-it-bleeds-it-leads format isn't the only seller). It feels good to hear workers taking pay and time cuts to save jobs....bankers returning bonuses....CEOs working for a dollar a year....factories trimming not closing lines. This serendipity in action can surely spark some confidence among the worried public.

But for how long and with what results....? That's where economists, even sociologists, find themselves short of answers. These questions run far deeper than their numbers. So I went to my favorite philosopher, Sean. An usher in our church, his ruddy Celtic face is more than the proverbial map of Ireland. It's the accumulated wisdom of centuries of Irish potato farmers, city artisans, Catholic pastors, and Dublin Pub dwellers all squeezed into one gloriously informed pout.

Old Sean never smiles, but neither does he ever rage. For me he has this stoic septuagenarian grasp on all the great truths of of time. So whenever Sean speaks (and it's not that often) he speaks with the authority of every Irish poet who ever bought a Guiness. One day after Mass I was asking him what he thought about the economy. He didn't hesitate for a moment. "A wee bit of more optimism," he advised. But, then giving the cliche a special life of its own, Sean offered me this example. "My favorite optimist was this Dubliner who jumped off the Empire State Building. As he passed the 42nd floor the window washers heard him say: So far so good!"

You talk about confidence.....! I think Sean was telling me it doesn't start with statistics. It begins with faith. As he winked up at the alter, he added: "Even when your stats can't prove it."