New Layoffs Announced –When Will there be Good News?
Listening on the radio to an early market report from one of the Wall Street analysts he was asked the question: When can we look for some good news? The answer was straight forward and echoed my thoughts about many of the financial news reporters. He said, “I’m just 37 years old and really have not experienced this kind of recession. He continued:” Any thing I would answer to that question would simply be a guess based on no personal experience and when you hear an expert commentary, don’t trust anyone that is less than 50 years old because they probably also are just guessing.”
There are those that have had the experience of living through periods like this downturn.
In 1974 I was building a 300 house development with qualified customers lined up to purchase. For a period there were no mortgages available for anyone. Not sub- prime above prime or any kind of prime. No mortgages for any of my prospective purchasers. I scrambled and also got a bit lucky. A few cash purchasers showed up and stemmed my angst until I found a lender that provided me with a few mortgages. I stretched these 6 mortgage commitments to sell houses and to keep the construction loans current. By working hard and continuously I found mortgages to see the project into better times. Those better times took about 18 months getting there. We however started on the road back after about a year of rocky sledding.
I don’t remember any government bailout taking place. Maybe something was done by the government but I was working too hard to notice. In later years when recalling that period I described the end of the recession as taking place when enough people and banks said, “enough is enough lets get back to work”.
I think we are in for the same type of year long problems with positive indications coming in the spring. It will also help if the media would take a more fact driven coverage, with descriptions of how previous recoveries took place. We don’t need the wild guessers tolling an economic death knell on every cable channel ten times a day
No doubt we needed a wake up call concerning the economy. We can learn and do better when the turn around starts. Wall street needs a real tune up with personal responsibility being an operating requirement for those who handle the publics money.
Joni Mitchell described what we seem to be now experiencing when she sang, “Don’t it always seem to go—that you don’t know what you got till it’s gone, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot”.
What we had isn’t gone forever. It’s just a short hiatus to catch our financial breath and recover the true self motivated spirit of America.
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Comments
I think the actual lyrics to the song (”Big Yellow Taxi”) are:
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till its gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
This will go on as long as the Democrats and Pelosi can wring marginal benefit from the expansion of the federal government. I detect in Barry’s voice , e.g. Obama, his deep note of concern about the crisis and why we need to put our faith in him to sort this all out. Be ware of Greeks baring gifts; for the government to give, they first have to take. And I believe this heavily Democratic Congress and Executive branch is enjoying every minute of stimulating this economy in the areas they wish to bequethe funds to ; the NEA 250 million? Really? A stimulus? I thought artists were supposed to starve - that is the deal.
Dr Bob: As always ( or at least much of the time) you are correct. Correction has been made.
Katie, We share the same fear of government largess. We need to remember that this is our money. Every government officer and elected official should need to read and pass a test on Adam Smith’s “Wealth of Nations” before being given the job.
Arnold, You can always be counted upon to cut to the chase and say things clearly in few words.
Thanks to you all for the interest and comments. Buck
wellsaid…I agree with you 100%…..Keep the government out of it…We will mend the problem….The American Spirit is the catalyst….Let us always be the land of the free and home of the brave……………………………..