EXAGGERATED

[Duchess]

I think the poor economy has been exaggerated.

I see homes being built. I see full parking lots at restaurants, home improvement/department stores. I see new car purchases & fantastic vacations and the waiting room is always full at my vet office. Some of the things I mentioned are always the first to go when there is no money to spend.

[SIXFOOTERsez]

True, businesses are doing well, it follows that some portion of the employees of those businesses will also be doing well, then there are the folks lucky enough to have been diversified enough and made the kinds of decisions that pay off in this type of economy. Employeement remains high, partly at least to technology changes outfits like the post office, newspapers and factory workers are being made redundant and they never bothered to learn something else to keep themselfs marketable. Then there are the illegals and the ones that never gave a fuck about working in the first place, I think this bunch is the biggest.
IMHO the banks and mortgage lenders were complicit in making the whole crash trhing..

[OnBendedKnee]

the Eye before the Storm.

[Jimbone]

I have to disagree a bit... my business is still down, and we work with thousands of small to mid size companies every year. They are holding on, but they are not spending money on advertising and marketing as in the past. Everyone is hunkered down. Large business can't support or grow the economy by themselves... even though some of them are sitting on piles of cash.

The other problem I see in my business is the small and mid size business start-ups are virtually nonexistent... and that to me is a great indication of how stagnant and muddled the economy really is. No one is interested in risking their money to start something up with the uncertainty out there.

Our accountant was in Friday to do a year end review, and we still have to hold off our planning because there is no answer on the fiscal cliff, with SIX business days left in the year.

No wonder there is no confidence!

[HairOfTheDog]

It's good that retail sales are back up for the holidays and that the unemployment number dropped a bit in November.

It's the small businesses and our employees that are feeling the most pain here right now - across the board. Even long-standing small restaurants and bars (which are usually almost exempt to the rest of the economy here), little hair salons, corner grocers...

I guess, in part, what you see and how it ties into the national economic crisis depends on where you live, your individual economic standing, and the business-types in the area.

ETA: posting at the same time as Jimbone; similar observations here...

[Adub]

[HairOfTheDog]

Man, Muller got a lot of media attention when he first started that Gas or Guns give-away incentive a few years ago. Seems like it really worked for him two-fold: apparently he increased his sales and I saw his name come up a couple of times in association with Tea Party initiatives as a result of that exposure.

I don't think that the ATF ever found any evidence at all that Muller was giving away guns on the spot rather than vouchers when they investigated him, but I haven't read anything about him in the last year or more. He sure did use their visits and calls regarding the gun give-away as fodder to mock government intervening uselessly in private business (and as a platform to advocate for 2^nd amendment rights).

His annual promo for 2013 may have to revert from AK-47s to hand gun give-aways if semi-automatics get banned, but he'll probably continue to be one of those business owners that thrive in a recession due to sheer determination and knowing his demographic like the back of his hand. I don't really like his politics and the AK-47 giveaway is a little much, to me. But, he's a smart business owner; gotta give the man credit there.

[Love Child]

I think the poor economy has been exaggerated.

I see homes being built. I see full parking lots at restaurants, home improvement/department stores. I see new car purchases & fantastic vacations and the waiting room is always full at my vet office. Some of the things I mentioned are always the first to go when there is no money to spend.

I think people will spend more money on repairs rather than buying brand new. Where before they may have called a roofing company now they are doing it themselves.

I agree with Jimbones post. I too am in the small business.

[Duchess]

Hi Love Child! Merry Christmas!

[Love Child]

Merry Christmas to you! : )

[Duchess]

It's great to see you in Mock! I hope you have an awesome holiday break from school & work.

[Donovan]

I think the economy was way overdue for readjustment. We spent a lot of years living on credit and being ripped off by the card companies. Things are settling down into a less disposable society...