I was listening to the radio and heard mention that the recent recession ended in 2009. This is the typical sugar-coated White House version of reality, but it really ticked me off! I’ll believe the recession is over when unemployment is under 5%, GDP exceeds debt and my house is worth more than it was in early 2006!! I’m thinkin’ that’s probably 4-5 years away at best!
If you look at it from the typical American’s viewpoint, you can’t help notice that this will be a 10-year minimum crisis. Most middle-class citizens are heavily invested in their homes, and many of us made the mistake of treating them like living, breathing 401ks…investing most of our earnings into the home we live in and banking on the year-over-year returns.
This all got me thinking, and got me pissed at the same time. I’ve been looking for inspiration for a new book and I think I’ve got it. My contention is that the recession is not over, it didn’t start in 2006 and in fact America has been in steady (sometimes steep) decline since JFK was shot on Dealey Plaza. Think about it…we were crowned the world’s super power in 1945-6. Our economy blasted off and remained the global leader until the early 60s. Since then we’ve:
- Fought and lost the most unpopular war in the last 1000 years
- Eroded our manufacturing base starting with the Automobile and continuing with the Steel, Consumer Goods and Technology industries.
- Let our nation’s infrastructure (once the envy of the world) go to shit. Take a look around at our bridges, roads, power plants, etc. – it’s downright scary!
- Enacted so many social entitlement programs that we’ve become a nation of takers. Nearly 50% of Americans are on some government assistance program. If you’re bad at math, that means those of us who are not, are supporting ourselves and the at least one other citizen.
- Finally, we’ve become such politically-correct pussies that when we do notice all the above our first notion isn’t to raise holy Hell until the problem is fixed…no, we concern ourselves with which special-interest group will be offended by our frank words, and how we will protect ourselves in what has become a litigious America.
Yes, I’m pissed and you should be too! When will I start writing? About 20 minutes ago!
thebrandedblogger 
January 30th, 2012 at 10:25 AM
Something I stumbled onto today that would make interesting research for the topic.
http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=1183
In my opinion, the natural order of things (in absence of government) is a lot closer to classical capitalism than it is to modern socialism. When you add limited government to the mix, you get a flourshing of wealth since the people can be less concerned with someone stealing their wealth, and thus can spend more of their time creating wealth. When government gets into the business of redistributing wealth, the feedback system for limiting government breaks down, starting a spiral into redistributing a smaller and smaller wealth pie.
January 31st, 2012 at 11:50 AM
Before I entered the healthcare field, I owned a successful market/design research company specializing in national syndicated research surveys on what the homeowner has now and what they’re aspiring to next- in terms of products, styles, colors- every thing from floor to ceiling; where they shop, how they shop, and their motivations. A profound shift in qualitative responses began occuring in 2004 . . . folks were starting to say things like, ‘keep what they have and keep it well maintained & clean’, ‘choose timeless classics rather than new styles’, ‘de-clutter’, ‘not buy anything new but repurpose’, ‘pay down credit cards’, ‘gift their stuff to the kids and downsize/ modernize’, and ‘update inexpensively with paint’. By 2006 you could predict a coming earthquake in housing. Fortune 500 clients began shaking and quaking and 2006-2009 downsized nearly everyone I worked with in marketing. The quantitative responses backed it up with an error rate of <3%. Like letting go of a balloon . . . the housing inflation was over.