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boy, does this ever make me feel stupid

i’ve never claimed to be the smartest person in the world, but i’m not exactly an idiot.  i went to college – for a long time, i haven’t exactly lived under a rock, i function well in day to day society, but lately i feel SO STUPID! why, you ask? because of one phrase i hear a lot of lately…

“in this economy…”

i just don’t get it.  i mean, i get the general idea of economics… buying, selling, investing, consumer trends, etc.  but what exactly is an economy, like as a noun.  and i don’t understand what makes it bad or good.

or maybe i’m just too poor to know when things are bad or good.

my dad was a stock broker originally.  his degree is in finance.  i grew up having the nightly business report and wall street week imposed upon me on a regular basis.  but i will NEVER understand the stock market.  how sometimes stock is worth more and sometimes less, how things lose value.  how money loses value, for that matter.  the whole idea swims around in my head in a big swirl of green and red arrows and dollar signs and 3 letter abbreviations and makes me crazy.  i just can’t wrap my mind around it.  i obviously have no investments.

and then now, we’re supposedly in a bad economy, it’s the fault of the president (that i will never get either), and major companies are laying people off.  there’s terms being thrown around like ‘downturn’ and ‘instability’ and ‘economic stimulus’. 

okay, i get the idea of the economic stimulus thing.  we got a check last year because of it.  so the government gives people money (their own) in hopes that they will go be good little consumers and buy stuff which will make the suppliers happy because people are buying their stuff.  right.

but now, major companies are closing or downsizing.  people are tightening their belts – i guess because they’re afraid of losing their jobs – and watching their spending.

so, the way i see it, people are afraid of losing their jobs, so they don’t buy stuff, so the companies that make and sell that stuff will not do well, and therefore have to lay off employees or shut down. 

does this seem like one of those proverbial chicken-or-egg scenarios to anyone else?  or am i missing something major here.  i must be, because i sure feel stupid a lot of the time.

Comments

  1. I think EVERYONE even the "experts" are completely and utterly confused with all of it! HA HA I also think alot of it has to do with the media...they say "OH NO" and everyone else says "OH NO"...to a certian extent anyway. Domino effect! Just smile and nod, just smile and nod! ;)

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  2. I get it to a certain extent. Having previously been affiliated with the construction business (which was one of the first industries to experience the downturn) I saw it coming. The housing crisi came first. Too many banks were giving loans to people they shouldn't have for houses. Now those people can't afford their mortgages, so they foreclose. Banks tighten the belt around who qualifies for loans, so less home sales, and less home improvement. Down goes contruction business, real estate business. Now the domjino effect happens. The banks that gave out the original loans are going bankrupt because of all the defaults. People who lost jobs and homes can't pay their credit card bills, there goes those companies, and so on down the line.

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