This happens to be a very good time to be an economics columnist. I get to talk to important people about historic events—as they happen. I'm interviewed on TV and radio a lot (not Joe Klein—right-before-the-election a lot, but a lot for me). My blog readership is up. My editors almost never tell me, as they did with infuriating frequency before last fall, that there's no room for my column in this week's magazine. So when I say I'm not despondent about the current economic situation, it may be just because it hasn't been bad for me. Still, there must be other, less self-centered reasons for my nondespondency. Five, maybe.