Editorial

Erring on either side

In a speech at Georgetown University two days ago, US President Barack Obama said that while tougher times were ahead, there was now “a glimmer of hope” for the American economy and that recent stimulus actions were “starting to generate signs of progress.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke seemed just as optimistic, saying he was seeing “tentative signs” that the economic decline was easing.

The two officials made these statements just as retail sales data for the month of March was released. The 1 percent year-on-year decline was worse than expected; announcements of job cuts all over the country, too, have not abated.

The dilemma is not peculiar to the US. Leaders all over the world face the same balancing act. They do not want to be too grim, lest people think the scenario is hopeless. And yet they do not want to be too optimistic, creating expectations that are impossible to meet.

One does not have to look far. For instance, Philippine officials always harp on the country’s “sound fundamentals” in predicting minimal effects of the global crisis on the local economy. They say prospects continue to be good especially in outsourcing, tourism and construction. President Arroyo, just home from Dubai, assured the public of the availability of jobs for overseas Filipino workers. The message is that times are hard but we’re in control.

Still, Filipinos are alarmed that foreign and local investors are cutting jobs or packing up altogether. Numerous migrant workers face dire conditions where they are and some are even stranded. A party-list group has accused the administration of “peddling illusions” to the people.

Indeed it’s one thing to deal with economic problems and come up with textbook solutions to them. It is quite another to communicate with people and agonize over how you will tell them about the situation as much as what to tell them in the first place.

Able communicators do not send mixed messages. Their decisiveness, mastery of the situation and sincerity make people understand the many complex factors at play in the daunting task of reviving, much less developing, the economy.