Pessimism can change the way people deal with their money in a big way. An article in the USA Today described the feelings people had about the European mishaps in the market. It was the reason the S&P 500 dropped nearly 2%. Our economy is so international that anything happening around the world can effect the way investors and stockholders feel.
The commodities market and the technology market were the ones effected most. I hope that at some point people become as confident as they were a few years ago in order to get Michigan and the rest of the struggling states out of this nearly 10-year rut.
Expectation and mindsets played a big role in Japan after the tsunami too. In Tokyo, people stocked like crazy because they thought that they would run out of food. And the pessimistic attitude made the Japanese to shop for less luxuries and things that were not necessities. The reasoning was that people should not be enjoying themselves while there are people in the northeast who were struggling. After all, keeping money in your pocket doesn't benefit the country at all.
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