A modest antidote for excessive pessimism can be found from listening to the latest interview at econtalk.org with Matt Ridley, author of the Rational Optimist.
The interviewer, Russ Roberts, apart from weekly interviews is a professor at George Mason university and co-blogger at the excellent cafehayek.com.
I would strongly recommend looking at the interview archive where he has interviewed a wide range of people ranging from economists such as Milton Friedman, challengers to orthodox investment banking practice such as Nicholas Nassim Taleb and evolutionary fitness experts such as Arthur de Vany.
He is respectful despite not sharing their views in many cases and truly gives people an opportunity to express their views and help educate the audience.
