it wasn't optimism really :) People in general aren't happy for changes. I've been through a country size systemic change in economy - USSR 25 years ago - when suddenly many jobs disappeared (or salary for those jobs disappeared). In a bankrupt country of collapsed economy it wasn't pretty obviously. Yet, there opened new possibilities and people who was open to change, they adjusted. The need for a welder on Navy destroyer disappeared, yet a need for an individual entrepreneur in retail appeared, etc...

(The opening a this book describes it pretty artistically. It is a mental shift one is forced to make. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_%22%D0%9F%22 )