• by Kenneth Fadner , May 5, 2003

Since the President has now officially focused the country back on domestic issues, I got to thinking about how we would know when the recession is really over. Forget the National Bureau of Economic Research, herewith my own personal list of the top ten signs by which you can know the bad times are behind us. Observation of only one of the following will be necessary and sufficient to know it's O.K. to party again:

10. No more tax loss carryforwards

9. Forbes Magazine gets its media trade budget back

8. Sock puppet makes a comeback.

7. Fadner starts getting his cappuccinos at Starbucks again, instead of 7-11.

6. Tim McHale, in his annual Stuart Eliot interview, does not have to ask 10 times: "But, why doesn't interactive get a bigger share?"

5. MEDIA Magazine ad % goes over 35.

4. You don't have to go Dutch treat for lunch with the Journal rep anymore.

3. Fadner junks his son's cast-off secondhand '97 Jeep with the missing front bumper and leases a new Nissan 350Z.

2. New magazine launches are more like Money and Worth than Budget Living.

And, the number one way to know when the recession is over:

1. TV networks start spending money on real programming again.