About California pessimism

Before anyone jumps off a cliff in response to today's Field Poll on the downbeat mood of the state, it's worth pointing out that Californians have been discouraged before. It's what recessions are made of. The latest results find that 93 percent of those surveyed describe the state as being in bad economic times, which is exactly what the percentage had been in 1992. Actually, expectations about the economy were worse in 1990 than they were in 2008. Guess I'm a little surprised that the Field people are so unrelentingly gloomy about the current numbers. From the press release:

While there have been cyclical ups and downs in perceptions of the economy during this thirty-two year period, never before has the negative assessment of economic conditions been so deep and prolonged as it is now.

I do think the current malaise is more widespread than in previous recessions, but not by extraordinary amounts.