There has been some rare good news about the economy recently. Last week the Dow Jones industrial average broke 11,000 points for the first time in nearly 19 months; March had the strongest job growth in three years; and many of the nation's leading economic indicators are on the rise.
Although it is good to see the positive numbers, economists are predicting a slow and moderate recovery.
"When you have a recession that's amplified by a deep financial crisis, the recovery is slower and more painful, much akin to recovering from a heart attack," Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff told The Washington Post. "It just takes time."
Like a heart patient, the nation will have to learn some new ways to live to prevent future problems. There are two ways that immediately come to mind from the news of this past week:
• The nation is desperately in need of more financial oversight, particularly of Wall Street and the banks. Their risky practices pushed the country into this downturn, yet they are now fighting efforts in Congress to overhaul the financial regulatory system.
The Securities and Exchange Commission sued financial giant Goldman Sachs for fraud last week, alleging that the firm sold subprime mortgage debt that it knew was going to fail.
Deals like that undercut the nation's economy and helped pull down the housing market, which particularly hurt Nevada.
One of the results is that taxpayers have had to bail out the "too big to fail" banks and institutions at a cost of hundreds of billions of dollars. It can't be that way anymore. Congress should press ahead with the needed reform measures.
• Nevada's economy has rested on tourism and growth, which both were hammered in this recession. A report issued last week said unemployment in March hit a record 13.4 percent in Nevada. It's clear the state needs to diversify.
This is hardly a novel idea. Nevada leaders have talked for years about bringing in industries and have tried to sell the state's "business-friendly climate," which is code for low taxes. Nevada's schools have suffered at the hands of state politicians who have put low taxes above all else.
The reality is this: Economic diversification won't come until the state's schools improve. A Brookings Institution study showed that areas of the country with higher academic achievement weathered the recession better than other areas. Nevada is now pursuing the renewable energy industry, as are several other states that have better-educated workforces.
Nevada and the nation are at a crossroads. It isn't right to think that once the economy rebounds, everything will be all right. Lessons from the recession needed to be learned to prevent future problems.