Wow, what a week.
The ASX set a post-pandemic high.
Bitcoin set an all-time high.
And a Bitcoin trading company floated, and its shares went through the roof.
Speaking of which, so did Australian consumer confidence, which set an 11 year high.
And the AFR reported that three prominent economists have essentially declared Australia has 'fully recovered' from the pandemic.
Not enough?
How about the unemployment rate falling from 5.8% to 5.6%?
Prefer raw numbers?
We have more Australians in work, today, than at any other time in our history.
That's a pretty good set of numbers, huh?
The best number of all might just be that we — still — have zero cases of COVID spread by community transmission.
What should you make of it all?
I'm glad you asked… because we covered all of that, and more, in this week's episode of the Motley Fool Money podcast, which was released just yesterday!
Yes, we have underemployment.
Yes, some people are worried about whether or not the stock market is overvalued (I don't think so, for the record).
Yes, our borders are still closed.
And yes, we have an eye-watering amount of national (government) debt.
Not to mention skyrocketing house prices.
(But don't worry… the bosses of CBA and Westpac this week told a parliamentary committee there was nothing to worry about. Fancy that!)
Here's the thing, though.
It's important not to let the worries get to you.
Not because they shouldn't be addressed.
They should!
But because the economy and stock market tend to grow — over the long term — regardless.
(And because the people who are now telling you how risky everything is, now that we've recovered, are the same people who were telling you that we wouldn't recover at all! Yes, there's a theme.)
My very first article for The Motley Fool was a localised version of an exhortation given by Warren Buffett.
He told New York Times readers, to "Buy American. I am." My version, three years later, was (unoriginally) "Buy Australian. I am."
And I'm going to finish today, with a similar Australianisation of another of Buffett's key lines.
See, you adopt pessimism at your peril.
As Buffett might say if he was born here (and simply substituting "Australia's" for "America's" from Buffett's original):
"Though the path has not been smooth, our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time. It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so. Australia's best days lie ahead."
Have a great weekend. (And don't forget to check out the podcast!)
Fool on!
