Economist gives pep talk to Cobb group

Atlanta economist Roger Tutterow offered a bit of recessionary perspective, and a dollop of optimism, Wednesday in remarks to the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s Marietta Area Council.

Think back a decade, the Mercer University professor told the 100 people gathered at the Mansour Center, before 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Hurricane Katrina and other crises. With hindsight, “you would’ve told me that we would be going into a deep, deep depression,” Tutterow said. “So this [recession] too will pass. Let’s keep an eye on the long-term perspective.”

He added that the recession is “already getting a little bit long in the tooth as downturns go. … When talking of economic pain, the majority of it is behind us.”

The anemic housing market has “bottomed out” and builders should “start driving nails again” by year’s end. The bank bailout is “starting to work” and credit should also begin flowing later this year, Tutterow said.

The drop in gas prices translates into another $200 a month in discretionary spending for the average motorist. And the “stock market is on sale today. It’s now a heck of a time to get back in there.”

Perspective, Tutterow reminded, is healthy.

“While this is a significant downturn, and the worst recession since the (early) 1980s, any comparison to the 1930s and the Great Depression is ill-advised,” he said.