The Economy
I have been wanting to write a post about the economy but I just can’t get my head around what has been happening. So, I thought I would get your input and see what you think. I have listed 10 questions below and I hope you will take a few minutes to read them and then provide an answer - just your thoughts. I will take a look at all of the comments and then try to write a post that includes your thoughts and ideas. Let’s have some fun with this one - it is your chance to BLOG so get to posting!
- Have you been negatively impacted by the recent economic crisis? If so, please explain how - stock investments, credit crunch, job loss, etc. If you have not been impacted yet, do you think you will be and, if so, how?
- Do you think the decline in the US economy has been the result of irresponsible consumer spending, government oversight or lack thereof, Wall Street greed, poor CEO management of big corporations, global economic decline, other? Talk about the ones that you think are responsible for the problems and why.
- I recently heard someone indicate that the problems may be the result of economic terrorism due to suspicious timing of sell-offs in the market. Do you think this is possible in our country? If so, who do you think would be involved - domestic terrorists, international terrorists, a very sick college kid doing a hack job, other? And why would someone or some group want to do this?
- Do you think the economic rescue plan will eventually stabilize the economy? How do you feel about the fact the taxpayers will probably end up covering the cost? What about all of the so-called goodies in the plan - do you think those should have been left out and dealt with separately?
- With the election only a few short weeks away, do you think one candidate or the other has the best plan to stimulate the economy? Which one and why? And do you think either candidate will be able to keep their campaign promises in light of the current situation? Why or why not? And please keep your responses respective to both candidates.
- Considering all that has happened, do you trust government to protect you from future problems? Why or why not?
- Do you think one political party is responsible for the problems or are all Washington insiders to blame? Who? Why or why not? If not Washington, then who?
- Do you have a better idea on how we can fix the problems? Should the market have been allowed to correct itself? Why or why not?
- Are you concerned about the potential of too much government intervention turning the US into a socialist country or would you like to live in a socialist country? Why or why not?
- With all of the negatives associated with the economic crisis, have you seen any positives? Fall in gas prices, opportunity to buy stock, etc?
OK - that is a lot but I really want some feedback so just comment away and answer the questions that you want to - you don’t have to cover them all! Let’s see how people are really feeling about the economy!
2 Responses to “The Economy”
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Wow, that’s a lot to think about!
I have not been personally affected, except that on paper our retirement funds have lost money. However, we aren’t close to retirement, and our monthly automatic investments are now buying stock “on sale”, so I feel like we will recover well. One of our sons is an electrician, but there seems to be plenty of building going on where he lives. Hopefully that won’t dry up. Everyone else in the family seems to be in good shape.
As to trying to pin blame on any one person, party, etc. I think there were many, many contributors. I think the roots of the issues go back 20-25 yrs. with legislation coming from both parties. It was well intentioned, trying to get more people into homeownership, but allowed lenders to lend to folks who, realistically were not financially stable enough to carry mortgages. I also think there were a lot of people who lost sight of their house being their home, and began to think of it as a speculative investment. I sometimes watch HGTV, and the impression I get from that is that everyone is trying to leverage their home to the max to make ridiculous improvements. Honestly, does everyone need granite countertops? Jacuzzis? Not at the risk of financial ruin they don’t!
I know this will sound kind of callous, but I think there is a certain amount of failure that must happen to correct this problem. I don’ really see either party putting forth anything very wise (yet), and I think that whoever wins the election is going to have their hands tied for a long time by our slower economy. I don’t think we can reasonalbly expect to see lower taxes anytime soon.
Right now, I think we have to just buck up and get through this. Finger pointing and blaming is just a waste of time. I don;t think there will be anyone starving, just a lot of belt-tightening, delayed retirements, and college students working instead of partying to get through school. Not so terrible.
I am 60 years old and watching my savings go down dramatically over the past few months is very disturbing. I just hope I can continue to work for at least 5 or 6 more years and see it regain what it’s lost. I always thought that I would retire after thirty years of service with the company I use to work for, but after thirty years I did retire only to find that I needed to go back to work and hopefully contribute to another retirement account, which I am now doing. I believe the mess this country is in is not the fault of one person or politicial group. I believe we have been led to believe that we deserve certain things in life, so we get ourselves head over heels in debt. We don’t teach our children to handle money because usually our parents didn’t teach us. We need to make our children understand that life is not about all the material things that our neighbors have but is about being happy and content at the place God has you for the moment. Credit cards are sent to kids who cannot manage them, at that age I wouldn’t have been able to either, luckily when I was young they were not so abundant. I think everyone should have a credit card for emergencies, travel, etc. but don’t use it so freely and be able to pay it off at the end of the month. that is the only way I believe credit cards can work for you. As for the banks loaning money to people who can’t afford to pay their payments, I know what that is like, I have been there and have struggled to keep my head above water, but did what it took to make those payments and keep my house. Sometimes I believe people need to work and pay their bills and learn to appreciate what they have. If it takes working two jobs, then so be it. Why should I pay taxes so the government can bail out people who cannot pay for their homes. I think working a part time job could help a lot in these situations. I wonder if the people that are benefiting from all of this are working and saving to pay their own bills. I certainly don’t have the answer. I do know that I have worked 2 jobs before to pay my bills and keep a roof over my head and still never asked the government to help me or get me out of the mess I was in.