Its the Economy

The challenges are significant, the debt load staggering, job losses and credit crunch- it is the economy. I’ve spoken with people who lived through the great depression and have asked them how does this compare? In recollection they indicate there is no comparison. We don’t have the breadlines, soup kitchens and thousands of migrate workers willing to work for food.

Yes there are huge corporate collapses, but the executives of AIG will likely get their bonuses. While many Wall Street types have lost their jobs many will keep there homes and BMERS.

During the Great Depressions after the stock crash there were the dust storms. Agriculture in the west stopped. There was a food shortage and job shortage. The banks collapsed and the government didn’t react until too late. And even then the government didn’t help the average person until FDR’s New Deal.

We are facing similar challenges and similar possible outcomes. A long period of laissez faire economics that began with Regan in the 80′s and went on until W in the 00′s. Without enforcing regulations that ironically were adopted after the Great Depression to prevent a reoccurrence, the markets and financial sector recreated the same situation that created the depressions. Hopefully we have learned for the past experience and will react positively.

How do we get out of this mess? First, it is a question of confidence. We need to believe that we will succeed in order to work toward that goal. You counter negative with positive. Nay sayers with “yes we can”. “I believe” rather the “it can’t be”. When faced with a challenge we must look at how to overcome and not shy away.

There are some who don’t want to look to the past, I believe you must look to the past and learn from history. We must not make the same mistakes, we must forge a new path using the tools we have and make new ones as we need them. We must look ahead and also look behind us to know how much progress we have made. But those that want to travel backwards and take us back to previous failed policies must realize that is not the answer.

Surviving the economic downturn

Over the last year I’ve been asking what caused the “Great Depression”. Not a lot is known on this subject. There is a lot of explanation but few definitive answers, and most is written in hindsight. To the point which I can’t believe there is a definitive reason.

Today we can look at the economic downturn in extreme close up and see elements of the Great Depression. These elements include collapse in the financial sector, loss of liquidity, failure in manufacturing and high unemployment. In the 1930′s we had the phenomenon of the dust bowl which ruined agriculture in the mid-west, now we have the fear of climate change that is impacting us and food shortages in many parts of the world.

So are we repeating a cycle? After so many good years, record growth and progress are we now heading into a long decline?

Possibly.

I know several people who lived through the Great Depression. Over the pass few years I’ve asked them, “What was it like?” and “Do you remember how you went through it?. These individuals were children back then, yet they recall the efforts that people made to get by. The overwhelming thing they remember is learning that there is a lot that you can do without money.