Do You See What I See? 2009..It’s Up To Us!
The media continues to report dire news of the economy and politicos and other “pundits” insist that the end is nowhere in sight and that, in fact, it will get much worse. We are reminded daily that unemployment is at 7%, that businesses all over the place are going under, people are losing their homes and that we have not seen a situation like this since the Great Depression. There is no doubt that there are people who are genuinely hurting and that we are in a serious situation, but are they actually comparing our current economic woes to the worlwide collapse of the 1930’s? I wasn’t around during the Great Depression but I have seen the pictures and devastating video images of that era. We aren’t there! The fact of the matter is that 93% have jobs. The unemployment rate during good times pretty much hovers around 5% (plus or minus), representing those who are habitually out of work, leaving the real number of unemployed up about 2%. These are not Great Depression kind of statistics.
"Migrant Mother" Dorothea Lange's depiction of destitute pea pickers in CA (1936)
It seems to me that “fear” is really what is propelling us into a downward spiral of anxiety, paranoia and a worsening economy. What we need is a “we have nothing to fear but fear itself” message delivered with the weight of an FDR. The only person, currrently, in our country who could deliver such a message is Barack Obama. Is he our FDR? Some have made the comparison. Let’s hope so. It’s not that the vast majority of Americans don’t have the resources, but rather that they are afraid to buy anything and have lost confidence in their own and America’s ability to pull themselves out of what is certainly a serious sitiuation.
Ben Stein provided an interesting point of view last week on XM Radio. Paraphrased, he said that those of us who have jobs and have some money have an obligation to go buy something. If 93% of us would go out and buy something…..a large screen TV for our kids….a new refrigerator…..paint the house……a new car….. or (Stein didn’t mention it, but out of shameless self interest) ….a Fractional vacation home, it would stimulate the economy better than the $350 Billion already given to the financial sector.
I see light on the horizon. I mentioned in my last posting that the marketing arm of my company, Case Marketing Group, Inc. was identifying relatively new players in the real estate sector, Scandinavia. By a strange coincidence (although I don’t believe in coincidence. I think we bring either prosperity or lack thereof through the power of our thoughts), Vince Cassano of Case Marketing was picking up a takeout order from Carraba’s this week and ran into a fellow from Sweden who was vacationing for a month in Orlando. Vince asked how things were going in Sweden and the gentleman reported that Sweden is not being affected nearly as seriously as the U.S. or some other countries and that a signiifcant number of affluent and semi affluent Swedes are buying real estate and vacation properties all over the world including America….and paying cash! As I post this entry, we are putting together a strategy to market Scandinavia.
Case Marketing is marketing a second home whole ownership project in South Florida and is reporting several sales, recently, in the $1.4 million+ range…..ALL CASH DEALS. A colleague of mine in Destin, Florida says that sales of second home condos are begining to show signs of a turn around.
Granted, we are just now winding up the holiday season, but I have to tell you that I’ve never seen EPCOT or The Magic Kingdom more crowded and the same for Sea World. I don’t know what kind of figures they are going to post, but the town seemed very busy to me and I’ve had year around passes for 19 years.
These examples are anecdotal, to be sure, but I truly believe that people, who are not directly affected by devastating circumstances, are beginning to grow weary of the doom and gloom messages and are getting on with their lives. Life is too short to let fear and paranoia deprive one of enjoying the blessings of America and good fortune. Yes, affirmative and effective action by the government is helpful, but we hold the recovery in our own hands. When have we Americans ever relied on government or anyone else to determine our destiny? Recession is as much a psychological malady as an ecomonic one. Let’s learn our lessons from past mistakes and be prudent. Let’s manage debt effectively. But, let’s not let fear and lack of confidence cripple us. Let’s get on with our lives, enjoying our families and friends, our vacations, our leisure lifestyle and all the things make America the most resilient, most productive, and most inventive country in the world.
Here’s to recovery and prosperity in 2009. Let’s not wait until 2010…2011….2012 or beyond, as some are predicting.
January 9th, 2009 at 11:48 pm
I couldn’t agree with your posting more, Tom. This evening we went to Outback and the place had a line out the door. We heard and saw tourists from all over the world. Many were from Great Britain. We noticed license plates from Canada, and dozens of states. Lower gas prices seem to be bringing people back to the Orlando area
There’s no doubt that this is a consumer driven economy, and people with jobs need to get out and buy something….anything. The results will move products and create jobs…even if the products were made in other countries.
We have a real estate client who sells mostly high end estate homes in southeast Florida. He told us just this week that business is picking up, and people are paying cash! They believe that now is the time to find bargains.
In Central Florida, home sales are up, and although they may be foreclosures or short sales, the point is that people are buying now. There are mortgages available to those who qualify, and that’s the way it should be, I’m sure you’ll agree.
I can also report that from our end, we’re Marketing Consultants, our clients who haven’t panicked, and followed our program, are reporting that their businesses are doing OK. Notice I didn’t say great, but they are not laying off, and business is level. That means when the economy picks up, and we believe it will this year, those that stayed the course, are going to soar. Those that are cutting back, will lose ground.
We’ve been through three recessions that I can recall, and have learned from each one. The media isn’t helping at all and offers nothing positive. Our advice is to ignore the media, think positively, and just look at the growth that’s occurred after every recession, and that includes the big one too.
There’s a tax cut coming, and if you start right now, (we started last year) your success will be more than you could imagine.
Take positive action now and you won’t be saying, “I woulda, coulda, shoulda”, next year.
November 16th, 2009 at 5:48 am
All over the country, the most prevailing problem is economic downturn. Try, try, until you succeed- If we implicate this saying in our practical life, we will win, for sure. Even at this current recession time, deals related to foreclosure homes, in Canada, is found increasing.