The sunny side

NaeNae55

I always try to look at the sunny side of things. However, I have really been struggling to come up with something positive about the economy. High gas prices, the housing bust, the stock market decline and inflation looming ever closer has made even an optimist's outlook tough. I finally figured it out though.

The great thing about this poor economy is that we no longer have to dread the forcasted 'brain drain.' So few will be able to retire as originally expected, that companies can almost completely forget their plans to help them cover for the boomers' retirement. Between that and the large number of unemployed due to so many companies being forced to close, my fears of not having enough employees to fill the gap have been completely put to rest (our youngest employee is 41; average age here is 53). This is a HUGE load off my mind.

Of course, no one can tell what companies will be forced to close and one is always concerned that your company (or your spouse's) may be among the unlucky, but that is another thread.


I hope I was able to spread the good cheer. x0:)


Nae

ray a

Well, I feel so much better. If for no other reason than I'd be a little older than average at your place.

joannie

Sorry, Nae, but I can't jump on your train. In our area, the economy is booming, uemployment is at an all-time low, housing prices are still up, foreclosures are down, and our company, in business since 1947, just had the best 1st & 2nd quarters in their history. The only thing I can complain about is the temperature is 100 degrees.xB-)

NaeNae55

Glad to hear something positive for a change. Every news program out there is nothing but gloom and doom. You are proof they have nothing but politicians to report, and since the public is heartily bored with that, they have turned up the heat on the economy. Not that there really isn't bad news out there, but the reporting is showing it as a lot worse than the actual numbers are forcasting.

Our business is doing ok. It is sort of a cyclical business, and without all the gloom and doom I would be fairly happy. My only real concern of the past few years was how to keep replacing our employees as they retire. The gloom and doom is telling me I really won't need to.

So are your local reporters telling you everything is good, or are you getting that from places like the Chamber of Commerce? Is the national news making people in your area nervous?

ritaanz

I dread opening the paper in the morning. It seems every day on the front page they have gruesome news about the economy If it is not about the banks going under (with pictures of people rushing to get their money out) , then it predicts gas prices of $5.00 a gallon. Today's article was on the foreclosures with statistics of how bad it really is. Of course, further into the paper was an article about food prices and where they are going.

I just wish that the media would state the news and not elaborate to the point of making people panic.

joannie

Fortunately, our local stations tend to balance the good and bad.. They will occasionally over-react, but not all that often. You know, maybe with our national media, "kill the messenger" would be a good practice to follow.

ray a

Other than the high cost of gas, this area really hasn't been affected that badly. We have not been hit by the big housing recession and the mortgage problems. Housing here tends to be considerably lower than the national average, so people just didn't get in over their heads. We were hit with recessions and job losses 10 to 15 years ago when IBM made huge changes. Since then we have been redefining ourselves realizing the high tech industry will never be what it was for us. So, this is just a little bump for us.

ACU Frank

This is also great news for Paul. His new venture is a combination golf/colostomy bag.