It has been awhile since I have posted anything. My travel schedule has been crazy and will continue to be that way until almost Christmas.
I am writing this from Jacksonville, Florida, while waiting until time to board my flight west.
It has been a good week working in the Southeast. The people are friendly and the weather was great. Attitudes are good.
Every newspaper that I pick up has gloom-and-doom headlines about the economy and yet as I look around, I don't see it. Business is happening and people are spending money. There is certainly an underlying current of anxiety because people don't know what may really be happening in the economy. That anxiety is fed by the newspaper headlines. Yet, there lifestyles really haven't changed.
In agriculture, things really look pretty good. There is certainly some market turmoil -- but that's the way it always is. The markets go up, the markets go down. You do the best that you can.
The only negative that I've heard is a rumor that one very large outfit that is an industry leader is financed by one of the BIG 5 banks. The word is that their credit line has been squeezed.
So, why is our government bailing the big banks out? I know that it's because it would devastate our economy if they fail because it would create a cascading effect that would start with the big boys and work its way down until everyone was affected.
My thought though, is that they need to seriously consider breaking the big banks up into multiple smaller institutions. Kind of a Ma Bell breakup. Let's spread our risk instead of allowing it to concentrate into a few hands.
What bothers me is that the very banks that the Fed is propping up are the ones buying other financial institutions. If I had a bent toward conspiracy theories, I think we could certainly build a case that this whole financial meltdown smacks of a conspiracy to gain financial control of the world. But, being the rational individual that I am, maybe it's just a function of human stupidity instead.
Maybe I should run for President. Is there anybody out there that would vote for me?
9 comments:
Your viewpoint has merit.
I'd vote for you, but I can't contribute any money to your campaign. The economy, any economy is inherently unstable. Like the weather, here are too many parameters and too much entropy involved for any individual or governing body to grasp. The Invisible Hand of Adam Smith will make the adjustments no matter how hard men try to stabilize things. I'm not saying we can't try, but a totally stable, risk-free economy offers little opportunity or incentive.
You got my vote!
Thanks, PTG! Good observation on the economy.
Abby, I knew I could count on you!
I'll vote for you if you will get Huckabee to be your V.P.
Thanks, Ozzy. I'm thinking 2012 might be a better bet. You never know about Huckabee!
You can see the effects of the economy around the small town where I work. We had lunch today at a cafe where we eat often. Usually it's covered up, but we were the only ones in there when we came in, and the only ones in there when we left. People are squeezing their nickles up here in the Appalachian mountains.
Hermit: That's interesting. Last night I was in Austin, Texas, and there's no sign of recession there. Today I'm in Victoria, Texas (South Texas) and it appears to be booming here.
Texas has a very pro-business climate and it shows. Maybe I should start a business giving tours of our growing economy and include lectures on the importance of a positive attitude and business-friendly governance.
the media is surely creating havoc as I see it sandy
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