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

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
HaoZi, at the risk of turning this into a civics class, the two are completely intertwined. We are a mixed economy, which was at one time based mostly on capitalism. (Pick up a copy of The Robber Barons for a bit more history.) Now it is moving toward socialism. Those are economic controls or lack thereof, and make a huge difference in how "we the people" live and function in our own lives and in the greater world.

In regard to the overall question, will the economy get better, I really think it depends upon where you live and how you handle it. Areas with-a large amt of health care always seem to do well, despite crummy wages in some areas. People will always get sick. They will cut out "health" care and just go for emergencies, which will change the way health care professionals operate. (IOW, ERs need to add staff, and small ofcs may need to cut back.) Areas that are heavily military are at the moment doing well, as is shipbuilding. Cutbacks can change that, as can advances in technology, aka they will need people with-more of a background in engineering and logistics, and fewer people on the ground in what used to be the front lines. The computer and tech industries are growing, but you have to know in which direction or you could be out of biz in 6 mo's. Also, many jobs are being outsourced to foreign countries, such as order fulfillment (I placed an order with-LLBean yesterday and instead of a Yankee accent, heard an E Indian accent).
People really do need to pay off their debt, no matter what. I wouldn't trust the stock mkt as far as I could throw a piano.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Terry you are extremely accurate. I may not have a master's degree in this stuff but I do have a very good handle on this even if I am living in the poor house. It helps that my father was a vice president of finance for a multistate corporation. That is why I ended up getting a degree in accounting. I tried going for another subject but I accounting was in my blood. I cut my teeth on ledger books.

The county I live in now was primarily agriculture and mills. Now that big tobacco is leaving and the mills have moved out of the country, this county is struggling badly. The main employers are the hospital system and the county. My county is a microcosm of the rest of the country. We need to retrain the workforce for the jobs that are out there. We used to be a workforce that was mostly blue collar but now we are turning into a white collar country. We will always need some blue collar workers and we should never eliminate those jobs. We would be fools if we ever thought we could get away from that. Without the construction workers to build the buildings and roads we would be no where. Along with all the plumbers, HVAC, roofers, electricians, mechanics, etc. But even those positions now require more education than in the past.

As you said Terry, the health care system is becoming different too. My private psychiatrist just had to leave his one man practice because he couldnt afford the whole overhead anymore. He had to go into a group that is associated with this big hospital system because they carry malpractice insurance, the building rent, etc. He just gets paid a salary now. He doesnt have to worry with paying all the expenses of salary for his employees, his rent, his malpractice insurance and hoping he comes out with a profit after it is all over. I know you understand that.
 
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