OPTIMISM: Apparently it takes a lot of...

OPTIMISM: Apparently it takes a lot of recession talk before Orange County gets scared. . . . Last winter, a survey showed that about one in five county households planned to buy a new car. By late summer, that figure had risen to about one in four, despite a year of recession speculation. In fact, more than half of those surveyed in August thought they’d be “better off financially” a year hence. Only 8% thought they’d wind up worse off. . . . But the jury’s still out. Surveys taken after the Mideast crisis and federal deficit developments have not yet been tallied.