Does anyone else feel the economy won't get better?

[muttmeister]

Yes, thing will definitely get better, but it will take awhile. The economy is cyclical...always has been, always will be. Right now we've been in a down period. I see signs that things are beginning to turn around but that doesn't mean it will all be fixed in a month or two.

When you're looking at things from an academic point of view, it is easy to see that there are ups and downs and the one thing you can count on is fluctuation. But if you are one of those who is out of work or losing your home, it is not easy to look at it that way.

The politicians of both parties aren't helping much right now because ALL of them are too concerned about getting elected or reelected to worry about us little people who have bills to pay. But at least we don't have to deal with a dictator or somebody like that. We can choose the least bad of the bad choices and hope for the best.

 

[Nomad]

I think I heard on Dr. Phil (or a similar show) today that a high percentage of people in the U.S. have thousands of dollars in credit card debt at the moment...and it is worsening day by day. With high interest rates and continued out of control spending, this is a sick/never ending trap!
I was shocked the other day when my hair dresser (always drama at these places here in my city) was telling me that her difficult child young adult daughter insisted they go to GREECE this summer!!! Say what? The woman is divorced, saved to buy a house recently, has credit card debt and is struggling a bit (but very proud) buying things for the house. Yet, it seems that she is seriously thinking of buying a ticket to Greece to go with her difficult child daughter. It's complicated...but I don't think its a good idea to get in more debt and probably a bad idea to give in to her difficult child daughter too. (Plus things are kinda scarey in Greece at the moment!) It seems she has gotten use to (perhaps too accustomed) to living in debt. I understand, but think it is sad and wish she didn't feel the need to do this.
Anyway....I think things will get better (eventually). I wonder if someone else in office would make folks feel more confident about spending. (This is not to say ANYTHING negative about the current president). But right or wrong, true or false, sometimes people feel better with change (especially when things are currently not going well).
I recall recessions in the past and this one is clearly taking longer to pass. Sigh.

 

[InsaneCdn]

The politicians of both parties aren't helping much right now because ALL of them are too concerned about getting elected or reelected to worry about us little people who have bills to pay. But at least we don't have to deal with a dictator or somebody like that. We can choose the least bad of the bad choices and hope for the best.

Democracy isn't the "best" form of government... it tends very strongly to mediocracy. But... the alternatives leave the door open to tyrrany, which is worse. Democracy is "safe". And so... we try to survive, or muddle through...

 

[DammitJanet]

Insane...we dont have a democracy...we are a Republic.

 

[busywend]

OK - here is my take. It WILL get better. But, it sure it taking a long time! LOL! But, the changes we face do take time.

For me personally....I tried to sell my house. 9 months on the market and nothing. So, I just rented it. The company I work for just went into Chapter 11. So, who knows how long I will have a job.

 

[DaisyFace]

The economy is a bit like ocean waves hitting the shore...

it doesn't affect every area in exactly the same way - some areas are hit worse than others - some areas are hit early and some areas are hit later...

so your point of view is really going to determine your experience.

On the whole, I think there are small signs that the economy is beginning to improve ever so slightly. However, those at the top are seeing the most immediate effects - while folks that have really been struggling are going to sontinue to struggle for some time to come.

I do think it is a real worry that our society is continuing to be divided into "haves" and "have nots" - and I don't foresee any real turn the other direction any time soon.

 

[DDD]

Based on history I am sure the economy will get better. The question is "when"? I am not a rocket scientist (as you all obviously know by now, lol) but I try and can't grasp the complexities of decisions that are made or battles between politicians. On one hand we have instant access to news but the news just skims the top of the issues that impact our current and future economic status.

Sometimes I just want to press a "pause button" and ask somebody "Why?" "When?" "What about X factor?" Since that's not possible I find myself supportive of leaders who seem to have a broader view of America and pray that all turns out well. Sigh! DDD

 

[InsaneCdn]

Insane...we dont have a democracy...we are a Republic.

Janet...
Government of the people, by the people, for the people... IS democracy.
There are different forms of democracy. Your country is a republic, ours is a constitutional monarchy. But both are... democracy.

 

[AnnieO]

Government of the people, by the people, for the people... IS democracy.

In that case, I think we live in Wonderland.

 

[TerryJ2]

I think if you got a bunch of normal (aka people who have to live within their means) people in there to balance various budgets, things would happen a lot faster. Just my blue-collar point of view.

"Like." This isn't just a blue-collar point of view. It's common sense for everyone. But we are so far past the "If you don't have it, don't spend it" mode, I don't know what could be done on the national level. In the meantime, if we all take care of our own biz by living within our means, I think we will be less impacted if the economy does dip again.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

My take as a general consumer and a business owner is that things are getting better - very slowly.

I heard on the news the other day that home mortgage interest rates will stay low for at least the next 18 months (which is being done to help spur the housing market). That also translates to low cd rates, low money market rates, low interest on savings, etc.

It also has made it much more difficult to get construction financing (constructions loans for new projects) which in turn does not allow businesses like ours to develop new avenues of tax revenue for city/state coffers nor hire new workers which creates cash flow for the local economy.

It's so many things tied up together - Disney Studios had it right - The Circle of Life - everything is intertwined with another which is intertwined with another, and so on.

But, on the whole, I do believe the economy is slowly moving forward - it just doesn't move as quickly as we wish it would!

Sharon

 

[DammitJanet]

I am not going to get into a debate on civics but we are not a true democracy. We are a federal republic. There is a difference.

 

[InsaneCdn]

Janet - could you give us an example of a current country that IS a true democracy? Because... if I remember the definitions from uni-level poli-sci... we'd have to return to the model of ancient Greece to have a "true" democracy - and that wasn't universal, so it probably doesn't count either!
Maybe there isn't any such thing?

(Canada is no more of a democracy than the USA is...)

 

[BusynMember]

We are a democratic republic. There are no true democracies.

I'm very interested that so many people see things getting better. I don't. Maybe it's because we don't have a business. Healthcare is up in the air and insurance is sooooooooooo expensive. Half the people in the country are on some sort of entitlement. I don't see the jobs we lost coming back. We have lots of empty houses around here. In my entire life (all 58 years) I've never seen it THIS bad. In fact, I tend NOT to worry about the economy.

I"m glad to hear though that others see a light at the end of the tunnel. I hope I can see it too pretty soon

 

[DammitJanet]

I did not say there is any current country that is a true democracy, you said we were. I am not going to argue with you. Why are you attempting to continue this? The difference in being a democratic republic and not is that is that we have certain inalienable rights that no one can take away from us no matter what the majority rules. In a straight democracy, the majority could rule against the minority and take away those rights. This is the system of government that was set up for us all those years ago when they signed the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. This is one of the first things we are taught in school. Its the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands, one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. Not to the democracy.

 

[HaoZi]

I thought this was about the economy? Since it's a world economy (ultimately), type of government is rather moot.

 

[jal]

I have to say in my "world" things have started to get better. When the economy took a nose dive husband who was in construction for 15+ years ended up losing his job. His boss & he were the only employees. He had healthcare, 401K, paid vaca and bonuses all 15 years. Banks weren't lending, no one was building. I had just switched industries. I had been there a year. We were laying off factory and non-essential personnel. Bonuses were slashed in half and 401K matching stopped. My industry luckily weathered, as a lot of what we supply goes to hospitals, schools and government contracts. Not to mention some big name e commerce people. I work in marketing, which is usually the first to go. husband was out of work for over 2+ years. Took the load off of daycare, but put the burden on me, all around. Luckily, a year after the downturn my co's business flourished. People always need what we manufacture. New or old its always in demand. I work for a family owned small manufacturer in the state of CT and bonuses are back, we've hired many major staff (salary positions) and our monthly numbers are at or above where they were when I first started in 2007.

I see it as a niche industry wise, but not across the market wise, if that makes sense. The niches are flourishing, where the general commerce is not at this time. Yet husband just started in a job related to construction and due to the warm weather of this year, they are busy. Had this winter been as horrible as last year, he wouldn't have had a job. Although, to his credit, he did take the initiative to earn another class license on his own to improve his chances of employment.

 

[Nancy]

I do see signs of recovery and yet I also know that so many people are still struggling and for them there is no recovery. But if we look objectively at the indicators things are improving. I like the Made in America program and I really feel that it's going to snowball. Companies are moving their manufacturing back to the US because if high shipping costs and quality control issues.

The sad part is that it takes so long to trickle down to the little guy.

Nancy

 

[susiestar]

One of the BIGGEST problems is that virtually NO banks will actually modify your mortgage with the federal monies for that. they actually MAKE money wth that program that foreclosing does NOT get them. We applied 9 times and there was ALWAYS some reason we didn't qualify. Not behind enough, too behind, up to date, not up to date, didn't have this document so must resend entire packet, etc.... FedEx made a BUNDLE because all things somehow HAD to be sent that way on OUR dime to them. I have been looking online and there is almost no one out there who doesn't work for a bank who has gotten a modification. So those huge pots of $$ for that program? Are wasted.

Our next door neighbors bought the house (that is TWICE the size of ours) for half of what we paid for ours. We will be moving in the next few months because there is NO POINT to paying the mortgage on this. We can't make the payments and can't get a modification and got tired of hearing the people at the bank LAUGHING at us over the phone when we asked about the modification. Two particular people found it particularly hilarious to keep asking for more stuff even though we could PROVE we sent them. It is also extremely unprofessional to laugh at people, but the bank really didn't care. Complaints about that were actually met with more laughter. Our lawyer is LOVING the recordings I made of that though.

 

[susiestar]

Janet, the whole credit thing goes like this. If you get a loan for a car with a big down payment and a note for x months, the credit co figures they will earn X amt. If you pay it early, they make less because each payment goes first to interest and then anything left to the principal. The bigger each payment it, the lower your principal and the lower your interest payment the next time. So the company makes X-dollars on your loan. Now they make their $$ but honestly? They don't like people who pay off early. So paying off early means it is harder to get credit next time, which is TOTALLY counter-intuitive because they don't have to hire collectors or have people call you about your payments. This is also a reason that many loans charge a penalty for early repayment of the loan and it can be substantial. Same for credit cards. The fewer you have, the fewer that you actually have a balance on, the smaller the pile of cash the credit co makes from you. That is why it can take a decade to pay off a credit card if you only make minimum payments. IF you can actually pay it off in a decade.