Two Very Different Outlooks on Our Economy

How goes the economic recovery? Depends on what you read. These two views could hardly be further apart:

• Cheer up! Enough with the "gloom and doom," writes Ross Devol of the Milken Institute. The economy is stronger than is widely acknowledged and can regain its past "dynamism" with the right policy moves. "There's a point at which pessimism becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy, scaring businesses away from investing or hiring. The dark tone of today's discourse is at risk of doing just that." He makes his case in the Wall Street Journal.

• Run away! We're in "a depression, and not just some garden-variety recession," warns Gluskin Sheff economist David Rosenberg after crunching GDP figures and other financial indicators. "Nobody can be blamed for trying to be optimistic; however, in the money management business, we have a fiduciary responsibility to be as realistic as possible." Oh, and it's not too late "to shift course if you have stayed long in this market." CNBC has the details.