Perplexed about the economy? Try the hair dye index

On CSMonitor.com, you can meet an economist who sees signs of recovery (click here), though other indicators are still pretty lousy (see this article on how CEO's feel and this one on student loans). At least we're getting a break on gas prices.

Up, down, bad, good -- what's really going? In our new Monitor weekly, we look beyond the daily headlines. Check out these videos previewing our special report on "The New Economy: 10 ways it will look different":