I sure hope it will recover and soon for some of my family sake. Yes I did see where the markets droped 5% the day after Obama won. I think it will continue to drop until people start spending.  But when you don’t have the money and jobs you just can’t spend. I have several family members without jobs and have lost alot of there retirement in the market. Things should get better because they can’t get any worse.

I couldn’t agree more with Dan. McCain was actually right when he said that the foundations of our economy were good. The problem is that the majority of people didn’t stop to think about that. Instead, they were thinking “give me some money.“ Our economy, like it or not, is the best in the world. There is no other country in the world that has contributed more actual “stuff” (in terms of inventions or ingenuity) to the world than Americans. Our economy will bounce back. People just need something that’s in a much shorter supply than high-tech, good paying jobs in Wythe Co….and that, my friends, is patience.

Besides, my favorite people will tell you that you don’t solve “money problems” with money. We didn’t get in this mess because of the job market or the housing market. We got in this mess because the majority of people have no patience. They want it and they want it now. People are under the wrong assumption that if you can make this or that payment and still have a couple of dollars left over at the end of the month then they can “afford” whatever it is they want to buy (you know, like a house, car, jewelry, toys, etc). That’s not the way to do it. But Americans have been relying on credit for so long now, it’s become so normal that they don’t know how to live within their means. Ok, I’m cutting myself off here before I really get going :)

Chico, you seem to be saying that the recent problems on Wall Street were caused by people not living within their means.  Is that correct?  I figured it was greed that encouraged bankers to make risky loans and then bundle these with low risk loans and then certify the entire package as low risk so it could be sold for a good price.

Yeah, pretty much. Granted, greed played a large part in it. But the fact of the matter is that if people hadn’t been so ignorant in the area of personal finance, there would have been no high-risk loans to sell. I think before we go pointing the finger at “big business” we need to practice a little personal responsibility.

I’ve got to agree with both of sides….and I don’t want to bail either side out.  People who did not practice sound financial planning and bought beyond their means, well, I hate they will lose that $200,000 home they tried to buy with a $20,000 salary.  And the banks who greedily advised people to take out those loans, boo-hoo if you lost money too.

Like it or not (most of us do), our business method is Capitalism.  “The market will correct itself” is a long standing tenet of free trade, and for the most part it will.  Chico’s right, though, a lot of us may have to take a long hard look at our spending habits and learn to separate WANTS from NEEDS.

You people are dreaming.  You are as far out in left field as Greenspan.  Even he finally woke up and said that self regulation was not working.  The sad part is that people actually believed him when he was preaching that trash about companies regulating themselves.  Companies are just a bunch of people.  Neither companies nor people are going to regulate themselves.  Get real.

drover - 10 November 2008 06:20 PM

You people are dreaming.  You are as far out in left field as Greenspan.  Even he finally woke up and said that self regulation was not working.  The sad part is that people actually believed him when he was preaching that trash about companies regulating themselves.  Companies are just a bunch of people.  Neither companies nor people are going to regulate themselves.  Get real.

First, I never said people were going to regulate themselves. I simply said that they should. Self regulation isn’t working because people aren’t doing it. A light is not going to come on unless you actually flip a switch. A plan is not going to work unless people work the plan.

Second, so what, it’s time to put our faith in the government to come up with a solution? No thanks! These people can’t balance the national budget, and you think that they are going to help the common people? Of course, that all goes back to my original post. If people could and would balance their own budgets, they wouldn’t have to sit around praying to their Senators to “fix” everything. It is not now, nor has it ever been the government’s job to make sure that every citizen is financially secure. Again, that little thing called “personal responsibility.“

Government came up with a solution to the Great Depression but you denied that.

Yes.  The Government of Germany started World War 2, which quickly solved our economic problems.

drover - 11 November 2008 12:21 PM

Government came up with a solution to the Great Depression but you denied that.

OK, first, tell me what the solution was and, second, show me where I denied it. I’m not saying I didn’t, I just don’t remember it. Please refresh my memory.

One more time, if my memory serves me correctly, the depression started about ‘29 and was generally considered to be over about ‘39. Also it seems like Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 and shortly after that Germany declared war on the US. 
The solution was very simple.  A well paid work force supplied the demand that allowed businesses to thrive by supplying that demand.  A strong labor code allowed workers to demand a fair share of the profits.  Protective tariffs prevented foreign companies from underselling American companies.  Government regulation of essential industries insured that the country was supplied with goods and services at fair prices. 
If I remember correctly, your words were something to the effect “the problem is what you were taught.“  I admit that I was learning these things in the 50’s so I may be confused on some of the details but I really doubt that I have the basic premise very far off base.
Now to try to clarify this a little, someone on this site told me that we need to learn what a global marketplace is.  Unfortunately free trade threw us right into the middle of the global marketplace.  We have a steadily growing trade deficit to prove it.  That is money that is leaving this country never to return.  As I have said before economics is simple, either you operate in the black or you are in the red.  We have been in the red for along time.  Every time you spend more than you take in, you are worth less tomorrow than you were today.  The value of the dollar has started going down because apparently everybody out there but us knows we are in the process of going broke.

From America’s Library:

The end to the Great Depression came about in 1941 with America’s entry into World War II.

From the Encarta encyclopedia article Great Depression in the United States:

Great Depression in the United States, worst and longest economic collapse in the history of the modern industrial world, lasting from the end of 1929 until the early 1940s.

Although economic conditions improved by the late 1930s, unemployment in 1939 was still about 15 percent. However, with the outbreak of World War II in Europe in September 1939, the U.S. government began expanding the national defense system, spending large amounts of money to produce ships, aircraft, weapons, and other war material. This stimulated industrial growth, and unemployment declined rapidly. After the United States entered the war in December 1941, all sectors of the economy were mobilized to support the war effort. Industry greatly expanded, and unemployment was replaced by a shortage of workers.

[Obama will do as he has always done, which is jump around with the sway of public opinion.  That’s the only comfort I have in this man as president - that he cannot be counted on to do exactly what he promised during his campaigning.  In fact, I heard a number of discussions on the news last night about Obama’s “wiggle room”, and that he will probably not be aggressive, or immediate in the implementation of many of his campaign promises (like taxing big business at this time of economic vulnerability - that’s just plain stupidity from any viewpoint).

(1) If Obama sways with public opinion, isn’t that what we WANT our elected representative to do?  ie, represent public opinion.
(2) Wiggle room:  no president or politician can ‘promise’ anything.  The most they can do is promise to propose, or support, or advocate in behalf of a program or issue.

Overseas, the French and Germans particularly preen about their cultural superiority to the United States.  Now, they’re nonplussed because they know it will be eons before any Euro will elect such a candidate.  Look at the angst Sarkozy suffered before he was elected President of France—simply because he’d been born in Poland! (which was Constitutionally permissible)

A good thing has happened.

After the United States entered the war in December 1941, all sectors of the economy were mobilized to support the war effort. Industry greatly expanded, and unemployment was replaced by a shortage of workers.

Maybe if we’d had the sense to demand Congress declare a state of war before we went barging into both Afghanistan and Iraq, we’d truly be on a war economy instead of dodging the issue by talking about having a ‘war President” we’d be in better shape.  As it was, all Bush did was urge us to go to the mall and max out the credit cards.  If we were in a real state of war we’d have been asked to make a few sacrifices, cut back on gasoline usage, plant some Victory Gardens, stop gobbling up all the Big Macs.  And as if that were not enough, go take out a loan on a house whether you’ve got the wherewithal to make mortgage payments or not.

THAT’s why we’re in the mess we’re in.

Time will tell.  See you.