JOHN MERLINE: Where Did All Those ‘Green Shoots’ Go? “Over the past year and a half, administration officials have issued one glowing statement after another about the economy, only to see reality turn out far worse. . . . There’s nothing wrong with a little cheerleading. But there’s a real danger with all this ‘turning the corner, things are getting better, recovery is on the way’ talk. If you don’t think so, just ask Herbert Hoover, who infamously claimed that ‘prosperity is just around the corner’ right before the worst of the Great Depression.”

Plus, “A Timeline of Pollyannaish Economic Prognostications.”