"We have been through lots of crises as a nation — natural disasters and wars and other economic crises — and when government is engaged and working aggressively, that has always signaled the end of those crises. And I think the fundamental reason for optimism is we're all on the same page," Zandi said.

"Talk to economists, from the McCain campaign, the Obama campaign, the left and the right, pretty much everyone is in agreement as to what we need to do, and we're going to do it quickly. And, I think, that, at the end of the day, is the reason why we're going to get out of this mess and get out of this mess by this time next year," he said.

"The economy didn't come down from the heavens," he said. "We made it. And we can fix it. This is our construct."

The Economic Report to the Governor predicts Utah's economy will continue to weaken in 2009, with the outlook being dependent on developments at the national and global level.

The report includes information about Utah's demographics, employment and wages, tax collections, exports, education, agriculture, construction, energy, minerals, tourism, housing and banking. In some cases, figures are updated through late 2008. In other cases, statistics from 2007 or portions of 2008 are used. An overview can be accessed at governor.utah.gov.

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E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com