Actually, I think it is worse than what the media thinks it is. The recovery isn't around the corner as the politicians and media like to say, the worse is yet to come. The fundamentals are in shambles - high unemployment, destroyed credit system, inflation, falling dollar, etc. We all want to get back to where we were, but keep in mind - where we were was artificially good due to loose credit and the "buy now pay later" mentality. All that has changed and we're all back down to reality. Even people "with money" have a lot less today "on paper" as most people's stock portfolios have taken a hit. Yes, there are bright spots but usually at the expense of others. Farm equipment is doing well because farmers are making more - but guess what, that means higher food prices for all of us. The ethanol myth didn't help matters much as farmers started to grow corn for fuel instead of food - but there's a lot of food items tied to corn. We haven't even paid the price of the government bailouts yet - it'll be years before that comes back and haunts us. I don't even want to venture on what the new health care policy might do.
I've owned and operated a small business extremely successfully for the last 25 years, but it has become ridiculously difficult the last two. We are all tied together on this and the 10% unemployment isn't a very promising stat. I sometimes wonder how 10% of today's population compares to the 25% of the population during the Great Depression. I wish I had answers - I only know we plan on moving forward cautiously and preparing for the worse.
As much as I'd like to see more boats sold, it'd be irresponsible for me to talk someone into buying something they shouldn't. For those that can afford to keep spending, you are the ones that will help us come out, but I doubt our country can sustain the levels we were once accustomed to.
My prayers are out to the unemployed, getting those on track is our first real step back to prosperity.
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