American markets were down yesterday, Asian markets are down today, and European markets are down so far today.
The good news is that oil is down, meaning gas, diesel, and home heating oil are also down. Seeing gas prices with a "2" in front is good.
The bad news is that the IMF says no growth for at least a year. That may be conservative. Many people like us have made large, structural changes to their lives that we aren't going to instantly reverse because gas prices came down a little. I still walk to work. Debbie still drives 3 miles each way to her job. We still live in a small apartment. We still live in a place where it is 70+ degrees in October. We're not going to run out and buy a $300,000 house just because the credit problem seems to have bottomed out. We aren't rushing back to the frozen north just because propane is a little cheaper. Debbie isn't planning on taking a job 40 miles from here just because gas prices dropped from ridiculous to merely insane. We have no plans to buy a second vehicle. We still only eat out once a month. We still get books from the library instead of buying them.
Over the last two years, we have made major changes to our lifestyle that we have no intention of abandoning now or likely ever. We can't be the only people to have done so, either by choice or necessity. That's very bad news for the companies, even whole industries, (cruise lines?) that have built their fortunes on rampant consumerism.
We all know when it's over, and the fat lady ain't even warming up back stage.
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2 comments:
We "budget" for eating out once a month -- realistically -- it is 2 times a month lately.
We do have a "book" budget and have done pretty well on it. I have drastically cut down on what I buy from the Literary Guild. It was nice when my Mom and I shared costs, but we both need to get realistic and cut down on that spending. (Of course, this week Ric spent $20 and it spent $30 in new book orders)
But my book-buying was a collection of Pournelle books. Those are off budget.
(Hey, if Congress can do it, why can't I?)
:-)
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