Sep. 5--If you had read this next sentence one year ago, you'd probably have little idea what it meant.

"Despite the best efforts of TARP and TALF, managing toxic assets remains a priority of Obamanomics, whose shovel-ready stimulus and Cash for Clunkers programs hope to deliver a reset to this Depression recession, reinflate our 201(k)s, reduce the lopsided pain of the mancession and ease the pre-fired experiences of those seeking their first real jobs."

There are 11 new or back-in-vogue vocabulary words in that sentence that last September did not exist or had yet to enter mainstream America's consciousness.

The explosion of so many new terms, phrases, bureaucratic acronyms and urban buzzwords in just the past 12 months is linguistic testimony to the depth of economic trauma this state, nation and world has experienced.

After an extreme year of recession, it may even be time for a new state slogan:

Florida: The FILO State. That's FILO, as in "First In, Last Out."

Michelle Robinson, Verizon's southeast region president in Tampa, agrees. "We will adjust the nature of our work force to the reality of the market -- adding employees when necessary to growth areas and reducing the work force in those areas that are not growing," she says.

Many people I talk to, from economists to out-of-work folks, expect Florida's recovery to be slow and painful.

Our economy's fallen and we're not sure when it will get up, or how cracked it might be. Florida faces some big questions:

--Has the state economy been so fundamentally affected by the steep recession that it will be incapable of bouncing back and operating just as it did before?

--Is the decline in Florida's population of the past year a fluke brought on by high unemployment, extensive home foreclosures and the recent run-up in our cost of living? Should we assume people will simply pour back into Florida once things settle down and housing prices again prove attractive to buyers?

--Will Florida ever possess the collective will and political discipline to upgrade its own economy with smarter, better-paying work -- or will it default to what it knows best: sunshine, tourism, low-wage jobs and less-than-the-best education of yesteryear?

Consider the responses by some Tampa Bay business leaders who were asked those questions.