Quote from denner:
That pretty much covers it. If you sampled enough of a cross-section of the population, you'd definitely have alot of conflicting answers about a recovery. I've also found that there are those optimists who don't answer that sort of question directly, but rather it's the sort of "I hope things recover" type of answer that they will give you.
My bigger question is how many businesses that are tied into increased government spending are really the sole beneficiaries of this sort of policy. Is it the sort of thing where a company with a bunch of government contracts (whether it be a small time supplier to a large publicly traded company), and is the only thing that is sustaining their business. It's the sort of thing that nobody really digs into, but I'm very curious.