While the outlook is clouded by uncertainty, there are encouraging signs that we will return to positive growth this quarter. Stimulative monetary and fiscal policies, improved financial conditions, firmer commodity prices, and a rebound in business and consumer confidence are spurring the growth of domestic demand.
But before the bankers in the congregation become too inclined to commiserate with him, I should note that the reason I know anything about Mr. Hall, and the reason his quote is among those family papers, is because his bank failed not so many years thereafter, as did nearly half the small banks in the country  -2between 1920 and 1930.