Yes, the economy is getting better. More jobs are being created, and the unemployment rate is falling. The high foreclosure rate is falling too. Consumer spending is up, and is at record level in terms of actual numbers. This should be good for Obama's re-election, which would help keep at-least some further Republican mischief from happening that had ruined the economy in the first place.
This does not mean the structural, endemic problems in the economy have been solved. Health care, housing and education cost too much and keep the middle class down and poverty increasing. Free trade and outsourcing have reduced our industrial base to a small fraction of what it was. Climate change is causing billions in weather damage and failed crops here and abroad. Corporations are making people work longer hours for less pay in the name of automation and efficiency, and these hours need to be reduced so more people can be hired. Wages are too low for working people, and private-sector unions have been decimated. The budget deficit and debt are too high largely because of tax cuts and unfunded wars, and needed stimulus after the Bush depression, and this could lead to higher taxes down the road if interest rates rise. Private savings are also still too low, and private debt too high. Government pensions also contribute to budget deficits in many states and cities, and may need to be reduced. The economy will merely muddle along, and stay subject to further downturns, until these and other problems are addressed. They can't be addressed as long as people vote for dorky politicians whose only goal is to shut down the government and starve it of funds, rather than take action regarding some of these problems.
On the other hand, there is a good chance that a green third industrial revolution is going to take off, and innovation in this and in other high tech continues to be an engine of growth. People always have basic needs that people work and earn paychecks in order to fulfill, and economic cycles continue.
