"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." ~ Benjamin Franklin

NY Times Faces Reality

>> Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Well, the Times of all places could no longer deny that we are technically NOT in a recession. The technical definition of a recession is negative growth. We had less than 1% growth in the first quarter, but a growing economy is still a growing economy.

Here's other things to ponder:



Now I admit that some people reading this have been hit by slowed growth. But, there were people that were laid off when the economy was growing at 4% and unemployment was 3.1% It is the nature of the marketplace - poorly managed (or just unlucky) companies fail and well managed (or just lucky) companies grow. It would still happen if the economy grew at 25%.


Here are some things that hurt our economy:
  • The Federal Government has grown fat, especially in luxury items. Medicare/Medicade and Social Security are three times the Department of Defense.

  • Congress keeps churning out new laws limiting competition in most industries. Federal bureaucracies also create their own rules - usually for not other reason than to have one. Each rule and law adds to the cost of doing business and rarely helps the consumer. It makes it harder for new businesses to be created, new markets to open, or even new products to be released.

  • Congress and Federal bureaucrats think they can "help". The only way they can help is to ensure a level playing field and get out of the way. Right now, they are only "helping" entrenched businesses and/or those that lobby the most.

  • The tax code is a drain on the economy. It is too complex and has too many rules that conflict with each-other. If you are audited, it is entirely up to the experience of the auditor as to what rules will be enforced. You know you are in trouble when you only have a 40% chance of getting a correct answer when you call the IRS help line. The other reason is it a drain is that it punishes success. It punishes savings and planning for your own future.

  • Earmarks, earmarks and more earmarks




Have I missed anything?

2 comments:

Jill 5:32 PM  

I just love when people jump on the band wagon and talk about a recession. Someone I know was throwing that word around today and so I just asked her what it meant and why she thinks the way she does. She basically had no answer. Just like when she talked about the market going up so many points. She just says it to sound intelligent, I guess. Duh. Doug and I had the best year yet in 2007 and project a better year in 2008 as far as income, bonus, sales, etc. I think the housing market fiasco has really impacted things but I am sure you feel like I do...the borrowers are to blame. If you can't read the fine print, you shouldn't be complaining now.

Doug H 11:02 AM  

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