Fears. For at least the last two years, we have heard the same news. The economy is down. Times are Bad. Money is scarce. Call me crazy, but we tend to disagree with those statements. We are not economists. We are simply small business owners with a goal to create new jobs and to promote growth in what are perceived as “bad money times”. Perception is reality. That is something universally known in many business fields, especially customer service. This is also true of the economy. Want to buy that new car? You likely look to your own perceptions of market conditions without even knowing it. You don’t just waltz into a car dealership knowing you can afford a new car. You do some self analysis. You think about your personal finances and if you can afford a car at this time. You might consider what your future earning potential might be in a year (no one buys a car with hopes that they will lose their job and have the car repossessed). You may think about a down payment that you can afford without taking away from your emergency fund.
You probably do all of these things without even giving it too much thought since these are the things you think about daily. You may even know you can or cannot afford a new car right now. You might be waiting for better interest rates or to improve your credit score before making this purchase.
About this point in the reading, you may ask be asking yourself what the point of all of this is.
Well here it is ---> perception. Much can be said of the economy as well. Within the last two years you, like lots of other Americans, may have worried about keeping your job in uncertain times more than making a major purchase. 24-hour news networks fill your head with the numbers game of jobs lost or moved overseas. The talking heads of news broadcasts speak of a "bearish" stock market and shrinking profits. So many people lost jobs in 2008 that the rich and famous started to second guess lavish purchases for how the common "main street" folks may feel or project hatred towards them for being insensitive. You watched as huge auto manufactures, banks and other corporations downsized, requested bail-outs, or outright vanished.Over the last decade, we all watched fraud and fancy accounting practices destroy places like Enron, AIG and WorldCom and cronies like Bernie Madoff stole billions from our often greedy neighbors through shady financial Ponzi schemes (see more accounting scandals here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accounting_scandals). Well we cannot fix the past; we can only look to the future. My family and I are living the American dream through all of this. We still have our three bedroom two and a half bath house as well as two other rental properties. We still eat out at restaurants about twice a week, take vacations, and drive two relatively expensive American made vehicles. How? Because we have a different perception. Our perception is one of living within our means.
What we need is a change in perception. If the country believes that the economy is good again, then this will drive people to believe that their jobs will be there tomorrow and the next day and the next. So, in turn, they will make that purchase, which will make more demand for products. This alone stimulates the economy. Not large bailouts. Not government intervention. It is We the People in control!Follow us and our friends as we blog about the things you just do not hear about in the Bad news of today. Follow us on Bad Money Blog as we discover just what the economy is doing and why it is not as Bad as the Money people make it out to be.
