It's not much of a challenge to get gloomy about the economy.
We all know the bad news by now: high gasoline prices, high food prices, falling home prices, weak construction activity, layoffs, the sorry state of the stock market.
But can two local economists pass a tougher test? Can they find something good to say?
The answer is yes, though some of the good news falls into the could-have-been-worse category, not the sounds-so-good-I'll-go-buy-a-new-car-now category.
"You would think the economy has fallen apart. The answer is, it hasn't," said Joel Naroff, chief economist for Commerce Bank.
William Dunkelberg, an economics professor at Temple University and chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business, also said the economy was surprisingly strong. "The economy's not in recession," he said. "The positive is, look how resilient it is. You can keep slugging it."
Both pointed to continuing positive growth in the gross domestic product and the 5.5 percent unemployment rate, which is still low by historic standards, as reasons for optimism.
Naroff added that the weak dollar had been good for U.S. exporters and that some sectors of the economy, such as health care and agriculture, were doing well.
"We as consumers may be horrified at the cost of food in the supermarket," he said. "The farmers are doing extremely well. The new gold is yellow gold."
After a long pause, Naroff came up dry on the stock market - unless you count "it could be a lot worse." But he managed to think of one more economic plus. Interest rates are low, if you can get approval for your loan.
He gave up after that. "I've given you all the positives I can," he said. "You're asking me to stretch myself to the breaking point."
Dunkelberg had more. He thinks the housing picture is not as bad as many think. The increase in foreclosures is concentrated in just four areas: Florida, Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas. And many of the foreclosures are the result of overbuilding. The houses or condos never sold, so, in those cases, families were not being forced onto the street.
Both Dunkelberg and Naroff cited the adage, "A recession is when your neighbor gets laid off. A depression is when you get laid off." Most people are still working, they said, and so are their neighbors.
"If you've got your job and everything's going along, why are you pessimistic?" Dunkelberg said.
A study once correlated economists' forecasts with conditions in their own industries, he said. Most economists now work on Wall Street - and that explains some of their negativity. "Of course, you guys think the world is falling apart," he said of his peers on Wall Street, "because your world is falling apart."
Dunkelberg said he thought some positive energy from consumers would help the economy. "We're talking ourselves into this," he said.
But Naroff said it was OK to be pessimistic. He sees feeling down as a logical reaction to the current situation, not the cause of it. "You don't go to the gas station," he said, "and directly deposit your paycheck into Exxon Mobil's account and feel good."