The optimists argue that they have both history and public opinion on their side.
In the first week, of course, almost none of the optimists' forecasts came true.
Still, say the optimists, India does not have long to wait for an election.
The optimists point to a buoyant property market and the region's cluster of high-tech investments.
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If this survey had to take sides in the argument, it would support the optimists.
Risk had not been reduced by as much as the optimists hoped, let alone eliminated.
In short, the optimists have a point, but the danger is in pushing it too far.
The optimists point out that it takes only a few moderate legislators to make super-majorities possible.
But even the optimists are not expecting the crisis economies to actually grow for many months yet.
Heretofore still pessimistic on the prospects for equities, this week Ms. Whitney joined the ranks of the optimists.
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Over the New Year the optimists had a good run, but the time-scale for growth returning is forever being pushed back.
These weaknesses may play to pessimists' fears, but at least for now the optimists have something to cling to.
What's more, two years after graduation the optimists were more likely than their less-optimistic peers to have been promoted.
Even the optimists, including the Federal Reserve, warn that it may depend on how Europe handles its debt crisis.
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In their view, the gains from globalisation are far smaller than the optimists suppose, and the drawbacks much greater.
And even the optimists agree US actions in 2003 and 2004 squandered a year after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
For all its travails, the optimists will tell you that the Moscow Conservatory remains a bastion of Russian musical life.
Should the euro crisis somehow see a swift resolution, the optimists who defied consensus could be the ones counting their billions.
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In such a market, with no short-sellers, prices will be driven by the optimists so long as the upward trend continues.
If the optimists are right and peak oil is decades away, we have time to develop new technologies to harness alternative energies.
The optimists point out that risky behaviour has been recorded in Asia for years, and few countries have seen a major epidemic.
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Looking ahead, the optimists point to further interest-rate cuts (perhaps another half point during the next few months) and a tax rebate.
The optimists see EBITDA growth in the mid-to-high single digits next year.
One day humanitarian intervention may be accepted as legal, say the optimists.
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The world belongs to the bold, to the optimists, and to those who are trying to build things that are bigger than themselves.
When America's Treasury stopped issuing 30-year bonds in October 2001, the optimists in government thought the federal budget was set for eternal surplus.
The better job-hunting performance didn't appear to occur because the optimists had information that might objectively lead them to believe they would do better.
The optimists about China expect growth at a rate of ten percent or more, while the pessimists think that growth could fall below seven percent.
Perhaps, say the optimists, this is posturing that presages a concession.
And, despite what the optimists say, oil is actually running out.
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