Dude, Where's My Recession?

This spring we Springsteen sell a couple of million in tickets in about 15 minutes and good seats for NCAA b-ball first rounds reselling for $1400 (6 games).

Yeah, things are tough all over.

misterdregs of NE @ May 01, 2008 11:42:34 AM

Recession? My rear end!

"Starbucks profits are down 21%. So that is a sign of people cutting back on discretionary spending, right?"

Ella of Ok, Starbucks is and has been taking a huge hit from competitors since its basic products are poorly turned out and over-priced! Dunkin Donuts and Mickey D's are killing them with better tasting coffee at half the price!

Or don't you get national financial news down there in Sooner Land?

Lots of complaining here in COLO, because unemployment is projected to increase all the way up to 4.1 %!!! I remember when " structural unemployment" was thought to be 5.5%.

Earl T of CO @ May 01, 2008 11:38:53 AM

LOST VALUE OR BACK TO REALITY

I guess somebody who claims that "RE" values have dropped 25% "year after year" (?) has forgotten about the 25% gains year after year that preceeded those losses. It seems to me RE values are just normallizing. Also different parts of the country are having different experiences. Some areas are definitely depressed, but many areas are doing OK...not great, but OK. How can any economy grow indefinitely and infinitely?

charlie dorfman of MO @ May 01, 2008 11:35:41 AM

Not so bad

Given this is an anecedotal but honestly this is the best year I've ever had financially. Just landed a job paying me more than I've ever made in my life (and I'm still only working 40 hours). Same with my wife (she got her job in 2007). Paid off $25,000 in debt this past 12 months. Life is good.

You know who this 'recession' is hurting? People who went nuts flipping houses but didn't know what they were doing. People who got greedy. People who got into real estate market looking for a quick buck and buying into all the hype. So yeah, life does suck a little for you right now.

Side note: few of us on this board have actually lived through a real a depression the likes of the Great Depression. Honestly, as a country most of us don't really know what it means to go through a recession (but our media acts like the end of the world is near!). The reality is that we still go on buying our Starbucks and other luxury "necessities" like there's no tomorrow!

So then why all the panic? Why all the news about this 'awful' recession? Politics, politics, politics. Instead do a poll and ask the average person on the street exactly how their economic circumstances have changed this past year. Just ask an average person like me.

Dave Green of NC @ May 01, 2008 11:28:54 AM

Real estate decline?

Just spent a few days in Las Vegas, where the foreclosure rate on residential real estate is supposedly one of the highest in the country. What we don't hear about is the building boom on the Strip--massive casinos and condo complexes going up everywhere, many with round the clock construction work. Isn't that "real estate," too?

jt of MA @ May 01, 2008 11:08:35 AM

Anyone surprised....it IS an election year

I still remember the newspaper headlines , literally the day after Bill Clinton won his first four years in the white house

"Economy Not as Bad as We Thought"

BILL of CO @ May 01, 2008 11:04:36 AM

Hoo-rahing a paper economy.

Denial. Virtually every indicator is heading south, and many are accelerating.

"Recession" is an arbitrary definition. The Fed, which is the great problem behind the current crisis, has, to take an optimistic view, bargained the US dollar to a place where it's boosted relative quality of life for some time.

But nobody knows the endgame of a purely manipulated, paper economy.

The US dollar is being devalued and even unpegged in places. Real interest rates are actually negative. A trillion dollars in global credit market markdowns. RE turning through -25% year-over-year in major markets. The biggest debtor nation in history. A nearly exponential money supply. The Fed only a couple of advertised points above where Japan went over 20 years ago and still hasn't recovered.

You can't just keep turning the crank forever. This is just the beginning.

Ten of CA @ May 01, 2008 10:43:10 AM

Well, Starbucks is down

Bill Smugs in MA -

Starbucks profits are down 21%. So that is a sign of people cutting back on discretionary spending, right?

To that Dude of TX -

Thanks for answering my question.

Ella of OK @ May 01, 2008 10:39:14 AM