Trying To Not Panic

The economy is in the shitter. The housing market sucks and way too much of the avg person’s net worth is tied up in it. The retail market sucks, but with the negative savings rate we have had for years, we actually need to not spur consumer spending. The US budget deficit is so large I can’t really fathom it. The average person hasn’t really had a wage increase in 10 years. Necessary expenses like food and energy are rising. We will not be able to use credit as a buffer against emergency much longer.

My generation has never seen anything like this before. As long as I have been working, the unemployment rate has been low. As long as I have had credit, interest rates have been low. As long as I have had my own place purchasing was a better idea than renting. As long as I have been on a salary it has gone up from new jobs taing advantage of last year’s experience.

I am trying not to panic, but the looming financial hard times kinda scare the shit out of me. I have never experienced anything like this. However, I do remember stories about long lines to buy bread in Russia. Part of me knows it is irrational to think that we could experience a total financial collapse, but another part of me feels that is naive and that we may be headed for just such a disaster.

On the flip side, my day job saves companies money by making them more efficient. If the economy starts to tank I will always have work making computers do what companies can no longer afford to pay people to do. (sad but true). Likewise, buying and selling used clothing is a prudent consumer activity these days. So, I am pretty confident that we will be able to keep our house barring a total collapse of the dollar. Since the US has the biggest guns, I doubt the dollar can totally collapse.

I think the trick is figuring out how to make money in a down economy.