Stores are crowded again;Sign things are looking up

[DianeB]

Well, I decided to buy some shoes today. Every store was crowded. More crowded then I have seen in over a year. This has been a trend over the last few weekends. There are more cars on the roads and more people in line for the checkout. Yes, people around here are actually going out an buying things again.

My best guess is that the recession really hit us - Central Valley, California - hard and early. The dust has settled and there is an end in sight. A long end, but it is there. From general observation, their seems to be almost no new foreclosures in the area. Less people are losing their jobs. Everyone confidence is coming back and pinching less pennies.

Before, you comment. I do realize that the recession is moving to other states. It is not that bright everywhere. The end will come sometime for you too. Just be patient and hold on.

DB

 

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

I wish I could go out and buy some thing. Besides the bills and a few things that are a must have in the house. We have no extra $$. Wish the economy would improve here. No one wants to spend any thing. There are some good sales though. But I cant get none of those good deals.

 

[DianeB]

I'm not saying it is perfect or the recession is over. Instead, I wanted to point out that there is tangiable signs that things are on the upswing.

 

[Sunny the Hippie Chick]

I sure hope they are going to get better soon. But I doubt it will here. Even if it gets better else where. At least it wont get better until next summer. We are a tourist town. So it is only going to get worse before it is better.

At least we have a roof over our head. We wont it it gets to much worse.

 

[lauralou]

I was talking to my mother today, and she mentioned that things were pretty good in her town in central Kentucky. She said you can't find a parking spot at the mall.

I'm glad to hear it. Maybe things will start to get better for everyone, everywhere.

 

[chickabator]

well they sure aint better here in ky where I live. Its paycheck to paycheck and you have to borrow from peter to pay paul. I know how you feel when you say you wish you had money to spend on the good bargins, i do too but I also wish we had some good bargins. shoot I still have to pay almost 4.00 for a stupid gallon of milk, groceries are so high I guess we will be eating alot of beans and taters, forget the cornbread you cant afford to buy the cornmeal. I am honestly not joking about this. the cheapest you can buy hamburger is 2.59 a pound and that is not for the good stuff either. oh well we will eat the musical fruit and be happy I guess. Takes almost dh's whole pay check just to pay the electric bill and car insurance, thats not including all the other bills, water, phone,tv, dr. bills buy my meds, etc. I would for once like to be able to go to the grocery store and be able to buy what I want not what I can afford. it gets tiresome eating the same things all the time. try feeding a family of 4 on 99.00 a month cause that is what is left after what bills I can pay are paid.

 

[Camelot Farms]

We are seeing small signs of improvement here too. Nothing major, just small things like folks buying things that a few months ago they wouldnt have or buying a slightly pricier item rather than the cheaper version.

Its still week to week for most of us and I know that we have a pile of medical bills stacking up. One day at a time....

 

[wombat]

Most recessions last about 12 months, and worse ones last 18. I think you need to tack on a few months to "worse" in this case, because of the mess the financial system was in.

I've been guessing that this past September would be the turning point since around New Years, and it's looking to be about right.

The conventional wisdom is that employment and consumer confidence tend to lag recovery in fundamentals by as much as six months, so we should see things slowly getting better, but unemployment not really getting a good turn-around until about next March, unfortunately.

I know that many people on this board have been posting about being out of work. I hope things turn around soon for everybody.

 

[Q9]

The government can put off a depression, but it will come. I don't see how they can possibly avert it this time, but I hope they don't, because if they do, when we DO have a depression, it will be far worse. I'm not saying I don't hope things get better, but this is a market correction. If the feds decide to create another false boom, it's gonna end in a bigger bust. Let the market do its thing, and we'll all be better off. Some good books on the subject are "Meltdown" by Thomas E. Woods, "End the Fed" by Ron Paul, and "Whatever Happened to Penny Candy" by Richard J. Maybury.

I apologize for being so pessimistic, but that's what comes from being interested in economics. Sorry to "burst your bubble."

Get it? It's an economics joke, you know, as in, the housing bubble... Ha ha... ha.. Oh, never mind.

Recessions are the government's fault. END THE FED!!!

 

[DianeB]

I doubt we are heading into a depression. The Great Depression of the 30's was unpresidented and probably will not happen again. We have more safeguards and the government is more aware then in the early part of the century. At that time Hoover and many others really did believe in a free market with no parameters and any government intervention. Instead of interving early, he watched as the country went into massive decline.

We have learned from our mistakes. Now we have social programs, regulations, government agencies, etc. Yes, these may not be perfect, but they are an improvement over the 1910's, 20's and 30's.

I have faith that we will make it through this recession. It is diffcult and grueling. It is not the end of society and the world as we know it.

I have taken many economics classes in college, too. They are not the final authority on all things financial. Many other diciplines also examine economics in a much more nuanced way. Please, do not have me start on how classical economic models do no even come close to representing real life. Remember, these now pesimmistic naysayers only a few years ago were saying things were looking up, up, up. They were wrong before and can easily be wrong again.

As a side note, I do agree that we need to stabalize our economy. The current boom and bust model has numerous problems. Do we need a depression to stop this rollercoaster? No! We do need to apply more regulations and better oversight to industries. We also need to focus on production not just consumption.

DB