Kass: Get Real and Drop the Rosy Forecasts

This blog post originally appeared on RealMoney Silver on Nov. 19 at 8:07 a.m. EST.

With the exception of a few holdouts -- such as Ben Stein, Sir Larry Kudlow and FT Advisors' Brian Wesbury -- there is finally recognition by most economic observers and market participants that if the economy isn't currently in a recession, it is likely entering one shortly.

I believe there is little doubt that the body of (growing) economic evidence will force the few remaining economic permabulls to tweak their spreadsheets, allowing for reality by year-end. (Well, maybe not Ben Stein!)

Meanwhile, those opaque financial institutions around the world, under the pressure of FASB157 and their investors, are finally 'fessing up to how badly they played the credit cycle and how their shortage of common sense contributed to a gluttonous investing behavior in which they believed their own nonsense in packaging and selling dubious securitizations and "ate their own cooking."...