Huxley is commenting that most people in society prefer to live in "happy ignorance" as opposed to having knowledge. The stars, or truth, are "depressing."
This is because that many find the truth upsetting and would prefer to live in the dark. Huxley is saying that for many, ignorance is bliss.
There are many ways you could paraphrase this, but one option would be "Experts think the recession will soon pass", since "Financial" and "optimistic" are implied.
