By Si Dunn
Many Americans are about to get back to basics, because of the economy's massive and continuing meltdown.
Suddenly, we don't have nearly as much money as we used to have. Suddenly, we can't get credit. And suddenly, we're terrified, after being reassured just a couple of weeks ago that our economy was fundamentally sound and strong.
Oops. The global marketplace has turned out to be a massive house of cards.
After 9-11, many Americans were ready to sacrifice for a war effort and help fight terrorists. President Bush told us go shopping, instead.
Well, the time to go shopping is here again, only this time, it really is the time to go shopping.
All across our nation, thousands of small businesses suddenly are hurting and teetering on the brink of extinction. Millions of jobs and countless dreams are hanging in the balance in tiny shops, small stores, family-owned restaurants, and moderate-sized warehouses, car dealerships and strip shopping malls, as well as in big companies, factories and corporate headquarters.
Whether you need goods or services, now is the time to buy something from the businesses in your neighborhood, the ones that, even in good times, have provided just modest livings for their owners and employees. They are the real heart and soul of the American economy. They are Main Street.
Just a few bucks spent here and there can make a huge difference, if a lot of us are willing to get off our wallets and make the effort.
Neighbor helping neighbor; family member helping family member; friend helping friend; everyone helping those in need. And all taking care of the basics and focusing on what really matters.
This is how we can ride out the massive financial storms now savaging Wall Street and our own meager savings.
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2 comments:
Si,
I respectfully disagree. I would wait to see if the banks regain confidence in each other-- if they don't, the economy will continue its "asthma attack" and wont be able to take in any "oxygen." Perhaps that's not a strong enough analogy. Let me be clear: it will flatline. And then the OTHER SHOE DROPS.
That "other shoe" is credit card debt.
With credit difficult to get, families squeezed, and compounded with negative economic growth, rising unemployment, and personal and national debt, what we will be up against is a desperate situation for all parties.
To combat this we, as a nation, must borrow more capital (China?) and infuse our banks with money that our treasury doesn't have, so as to have the capital requirements necessary to start lending again.
If we cant cover it all that way (which we won't,) then we will surely deficit spend and just print more money. That of course is inflation, with the result being a dollar which will buy much less than it did yesterday. Remember-- there are economists who describe the $700 B. bailout as a "pebble in a sea." Forgive their hyperbole, but you get the picture.
I believe we need to protect what we have (personal liquidity) against inflation today by keeping it as safe as possible. Trying to "stimulate" the economy by some sort of patriotic spending could be fruitless and PERSONALLY DISASTROUS if the economy doesn't turn around. Ask yourself: What is safe and inflation proof?
Yes, I think it is that serious.
Thanks for your astute comments. I'm not talking about personally spending large sums of money. Already, there is talk that Washington will have to send out another "stimulus" check, so average citizens will go out and spend it and keep the economy moving. If we keep all of our money in our pockets, we will kill the very heart of our economy: small business. And borrowing from the Chinese to flood the banks with cash will not directly help the neighborhood pastry shop shop or shoe-repair shop or family cafe. They need cash in their cash registers NOW from their regular customers and a few new ones.
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