One of today’s news reports indicated that retail sales for the Christmas shopping season were down 5% to 8%. You’d think that the world had come to an end! The TV talking head who passed on that information explained how retailers were hoping that consumers would make up that deficit by the end of the year. Deep merchandise discounts are supposed to be the incentive to lure you in.
We may be in the midst of the biggest economic downturn since 1929. If all we had to be concerned about were an 8% slowdown in seasonal consumer spending, it would be a gift from heaven. If only the stock market had gone down by a mere 5% to 8%; or the real estate market; or the auto industry!
Even though the Bridgewater area may not be feeling the pain as severely as the most depressed sections of the USA, the economic issues plaguing this region are similar to those across the nation. Just look around: Our spending habits, expectations, and bellies have simply grown too outsized over too long a period of time.
If you believe in Guardian Angels, then I sincerely wish that yours will watch over you in the coming year. And that’s not an idle wish. You’d probably do better to put your trust in that phenomenon, while keeping your nose to the grindstone, than you would be to trust some of the yahoos who have been misdirecting our financial and governmental institutions.
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