25th February 2008

Recession - here to stay?

posted in economics |

Do you believe it? That’s the big question today: When’s the next bull? How long will the bear last? And forget Washington’s rhetoric about “no recession.” The truth is, you can call it a “bear,” “slow growth,” a “downturn,” a “recession” — call it whatever you want. Timing’s the real question. How long will it last? When will it bottom? 2008? 2011?

-marketwatch

Whether or not you believe it, we’re in the midst - or start - of a depression. This isn’t the great depression, just things aren’t pretty anymore. Being a student of economics (yes, a student of many things!) I particularly enjoy the quoted Marketwatch article, because it sites the many causes of our current dilemma - without resorting to name-calling and crying.

Let’s break it down:

  • We’re in a war with ourselves, overspending and living in denial.
  • We’re letting other people let us be lead, cluelessly down a treacherous path.
  • We let ourselves be diluted that ’something will happen to set things right.’

Plain and simple, we’re at election season, and all I’ve heard it “vote for me, because I stand for change.” or “vote for me, because I have experience, and that matters.” “For for him, he’s not a politician.” “Don’t vote for him, he’s being lead by lobbyists!”

I’m pretty sure you can pick out who is who in that bunch. The point is - no one has really stated how they will fix the economy or our current crunch. Bush gave tax credits to big companies - and then gave the american public a check (well, he will be). He did things for the “rich” and the “poor.” He’s doing what he can to try and stave off the inevitable - a long, hard look at ourselves and how we’re letting greed lead the way.

People live by credit, overcharge, overspend and let their big purchases lie to them about their stability.

Time’s up people, sell back your over-priced gadgets, cars, and toys. I’m not saying live a meek life - I’m saying live within your means. I’m not here to tell you what you’re doing wrong, just tell you that maybe - just maybe - you need to look at yourself in the mirror and say “am I happy?” Do you need this stuff? Or do you need to start thinking of the future, and how you want future generations to look back and say “That is when it changed - that is when things started to get better.”

I’ve got some ideas (and a little more free time) so let’s see how things pan out in the coming weeks…

This entry was posted on Monday, February 25th, 2008 at 9:29 pm and is filed under economics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

There are currently 5 responses to “Recession - here to stay?”

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  1. 1 On February 25th, 2008, Taxes » Recession - here to stay? said:

    [...] financial zen wrote an interesting post today on Recession - here to stay?Here’s a quick excerptRecession - here to stay? Do you believe it? That’s the big question today: When’s the next bull? How long will the bear last? And forget Washington’s rhetoric about “no recession.” The truth is, you can call it a “bear,” “slow growth,” a “downturn,” a “recession” — call it whatever you want. Timing’s the real question. How long will it last? When will it bottom? 2008? 2011? -marketwatch Whether or not you believe it, we’re in the midst - or start - of a depression. This isn’t the great depr [...]

  2. 2 On February 26th, 2008, depression » Blog Archive » Recession - here to stay? said:

    [...] Read the rest of this great post here [...]

  3. 3 On February 26th, 2008, Lead Free Toys » Blog Archive » Recession - here to stay? said:

    [...] Original post by financial zen [...]

  4. 4 On March 10th, 2008, It’s verified, we’re in a recession. » financial zen said:

    [...] Remember what I said last time? Some people smarter and more qualified than I - agree: There has been a lot of hand-wringing about whether or not the U.S. economy is currently in a recession. This morning’s data will, I think, lead to a near-unanimous view that the U.S. economy is in a recession. Not only was employment growth in February negative, but the B.L.S. also tells us that the previous two months were worse than originally thought. Over the past three months, non-farm payrolls fell at an annualized rate of about 0.1 percent. [...]

  5. 5 On April 24th, 2008, Asking for a raise, or focus on deserving one? » financial zen said:

    [...] from you. If you maintain these two, simple rules, you can both have a higher outlook in your job (especially with the economic downturn) but when times are good - have a better bargaining chip for a [...]

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