The story of Virginia’s economy since the recession is like a “Shakespearean tragedy in reverse.”
That was one of several metaphors used Friday at the Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s sixth annual economic summit in Williamsburg.
More than 700 people attended the meeting, where economists with Old Dominion University revealed a 175-page report on the state of Virginia’s economy. The report describes an economy hampered by federal spending cuts, with economic growth lagging the nation, but also with reasons for optimism.
Larry Filer, an associate professor of economics at Old Dominion, used the reverse-tragedy analogy to describe how the report reads.
“Things are really, really bad and then they get a little better in the end,” he told the crowd.
Another economist — J.D. Foster, the deputy chief economist with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — illustrated his take on the national economy by holding a glass partly filled with water.
“If you are an optimist, that’s a glass half full,” Foster said. “If you are a pessimist, that’s a glass half empty.
“One thing that’s undeniable is it’s not full,” he said. “That is the U.S. economy today. It is not terrible. It is not great, and not where it should be.”
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