Everywhere I've turned, there's been something about recession. On the radio, on the internet, in the news...I can't seem to avoid it, or my opinion that recession is all just a mindset (unless, of course, the economy really does flop, as it did in the Great Depression, but that's a whole other story).
Today's recession mainly consists of the Panic-ers and the Panic-ees. The Panic-ers (i.e., stockbrokers, stockholders, the government) see that the U.S economy is not growing as fast as they like and declare the nation in a state of recession. The Panic-ees (i.e., everyone else) trusting authority and seeing the cents (er, sense) in saving their green, start holding back and cause the recession that the Panic-ers declared in the first place, end result being like a dog that chases its own tail. If that has confused you, see my explanation below, and if it hasn't, scroll past that and read on.
For you Confused Ones-it's like being a student in a classroom. What you believe in that classroom is somewhat dependent on what the teacher tells you. If the teacher tells you you're going to fail in a convincing tone, chances are you're going to believe that and fail. However, if you're lucky to have a supportive teacher who tells you that you will do well in a convincing tone, chances are you will believe the teacher and do well. The Panic-ers are the teachers, with the Panic-ees as the students. I hope that clears that up, and if it doesn't, I apologize.
Going On-it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, basically. You tell us that we're in a recession in a panicky tone, we believe you, and thus we are. Interestingly enough, in a news report I listened to on NPR not long ago, it was said that the only reason the China markets dropped was because they heard rumors that the U.S. was in recession. The people there merely *believed* that the U.S. was and it affected their economy.
What if we tried it the other way 'round? Saying that, yes, the U.S. is growing slowly, but there's no need to panic? Countries cannot always develop quickly-the U.S. has just been lucky to have been able to for the past 200 years. Now we're just hitting a slow down, that's all. If we lead ourselves to believe that the economy will hold, then it will.
I'm not saying that there won't be/isn't any problems with the economy now. I'm saying that running around in circles screaming "we're in recession!" will take us only one way, *to* recession. But stopping to think, "hey, maybe it's just slow growth, we'll get past it" and walking in a forward line, will take us down the road to the future.
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I think you're spot on. In the Great Depression, and after 9/11, people were convinced the economy was going down, so they sold all their stocks at once and it did. The market fluctuates, that's all.
There’s a term for what you described at least in the classroom. The Pygmalion effect refers to situations in which students perform better than other students simply because they are expected to do so. It’s a leadership term.
That is definitely an interesting theory. It is plausible, and the fact that china’s economy is suffering is really funny actually. I’ve always thought that we were going to hell economically, we keep outsourcing our jobs and china is growing a lot faster than us. I know it’s kind of doomsday like.
I guess well have to wait two sessions to know what’s really going to happen in our economy.
handing out $50 to random customers to encourage spending. You're right, if everyone is told that the country is going into recession, everyone will save their money and spending will decrease and, generally, it will make everything worse.
I knew our economy wasn't going so well, but it wasn't until last week when I read an article that had "Recession" in it.
Oh what a bright future we have..
I think we're in a recession for a few reasons.
1) The nation is debt close to 10 trillion dollars.
2) Inflation. The feds don't have to say how much money they print each year. That doesn't bode well and probably means that the US is being flooded with dollars, which lowers the value.
3) The reason there was a housing boom at all was because it was easy to borrow money. Credit anybody? With a ton of credit spending, there are a ton of people in debt. That's not good for the economy.
"What a man does for pay is of little significance. What he is, as a sensitive instrument responsive to the world's beauty, is everything!"
H. P. Lovecraft
Yes, the economy's growing worse. But that doesn't mean we can't fix it.
1)We could diminish the debt easily (in theory, anyway). You realize just how many millionaires there are in America? Sports players, actors-they have salaries well over what's reasonable. If they were willing to pay a million each towards the debt, the numbers would quickly decrease. Not necessarily disappear, but diminish significantly. And also, this is in theory-people are usually unwilling to part with money, particularly such a large amount.
2)Nothing can be done really about inflation. From the start of the country, there were concerns about using "soft" money, and since we decided long ago to use it anyway...*shrugs* Not sure what could be done.
3)True. My family just moved recently, and I have no doubt that we had to borrow money and are still in debt, somewhat. But that can be overcome. People can make the decision not to borrow as much, as well as being a little more reasonable with their money; i.e., not get fast food as often, or get as many toys for their kids. Just being practical with money can help save, and reduce the amount to borrow.
"I think, therefore I am." -Rene Descartes
1- I say that more of the governments income has to go to debt solution.
2- Plenty can be done about inflation. Like not flooding the market with money. I'm also not entirely opposed to basing our money on a metal standard rather than on faith.
3- Again, yes, debt can be paid, but the government essentially encouraged, and are doing so again, people to borrow and buy on credit to give the economy a boost. The problem with that is that it always comes back and bites you in the ass. And, yes, personal responsibility is involved.
"What a man does for pay is of little significance. What he is, as a sensitive instrument responsive to the world's beauty, is everything!"
H. P. Lovecraft