text: are economic figures catching up with what people already know? if the economy is so good then why is this happening  gross domestic product down  treasury bonds up manufacturing activity down payroll figures down value of dollar down http://news.yahoo.com/s/ft/20061101/bs_ft/fto110120061340013087 that's easy to respond to.  people know that the economy has been great, and that of course things have to pull back a little, or level off a little, otherwise there will be a crash.  so, as that article states, and which you fail to state, is that things are "slowing", not crashing or anything like that.  slowing is okay and that is what we would hope our monetary policy could achieve.  if the economy doesn't grow at a slower pace, and we don't have some (small) corrections here and there, the the economy is not good.  therefore, i would say we still have a pretty darn good economy.  i know i've done great this year!  as another note, i also read an article today that wage increases are still looking good and above the inflation rate.    try another argument.