New York seems to be in a bubble. PSFK went to a salon last night and the number of times people said ‘if the recession happens’ astounded us. Around the world retail sales has slumped and the real estate market has crashed. The number of homes repossessed in the UK is at a record high since 1999 and the US had the worst retail month since they started monitoring in 1969.
We’re entering a world of less is more – not because we feel a need to reduce our consumption to save the world, it’s because we we just can’t continue consuming this way.
[hat tip to Jen Olson of Seed for thoughts]
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Well actually a recession is usually defined as a 6 month downward trend in the market, we are only at 2 months right now, that is not even halfway.
The market goes down and goes back up, it’s a cycle, we should just let it ride out instead of getting a stimulas plan return that will just increase our debt (by 40 billion more if the democrats get their way)
February 8th, 2008 at 9:36 am
Chris,
Ride it out? Utter nonsense.
Let’s wait another 4 months then do something shall we? Go into the country and see the havoc the slump is creating. It’s causing real change today that needs to be adjusted to.
Piers
February 8th, 2008 at 11:10 am
Salon? Thought your hair was looking nice in the picture Piers :)
We won’t stop consuming, we’ll just consumer differently.
Food and drink sales will be the same or even higher, scratch card sales will soar.
In fact there are some business folk in the UK who are actively seeking a recession:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/feb/08/economics
February 8th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Stick to the rest of the stuff that you guys talk about, really I enjoy this site every day. When it comes to the economy it corrects itself over time. Times get bad, that’s when you save and hunker down and spend wisely. Throwing money at the problem isn’t fixing it though, it’s like covering a gun shot wound with a band-aid, sure it slows the bleeding but it doesn’t stop it. There are other solutions out there like not sending out checks at all and just cutting the rates in half instead of by half a percentage point, then we allow it to equal itself out over time while we all start to buy our houses again.
If you want to talk about the real problem, it’s all about the people that went out and invested in real estate turn around. It seems like there are a ton of people getting hurt or thrown out because of this variable rate loan situation, a majority of people were holding on to multiple real estate properties to turn around and sell later on down the road, it ended up screwing the rest of us over.
I do feel bad for those less fortunate but what about those that won’t even take the necessary steps to care for themselves, let’s run under communism so everyone is equal and noone can aspire for dreams. Hell I know I wouldn’t want to reach for the stars if I make the same as everyone else!
February 8th, 2008 at 4:40 pm