I don’t know about you but I am so confused by the media telling us conflicting stories about the economy that I have no idea if my life is getting better or worse. Of course I am talking about economics only. I will not get into other matters of my life that would probably have you all throwing eggs at me.
Really should we be happy the economy is improving or mad that it is getting worse. Of course it depends on who is doing the talking and who is doing the publishing. I would say it runs 50/50 and of course there is a regional aspect to it. I for one do not think the economy is getting better based on unemployment numbers, year to year profits of the retail trade and the general feel you get by talking to people.
There is a main barometer that we need to use in gauging how the current administration is doing. In the midst of the depression President Roosevelt came on the radio (no I was not there listening to it!) and gave his famous Fireside Chats. The President talked with such conviction and with such comforting tones that the public felt that he was in the room and that Uncle Franklin will not let anything bad happen. He will fix things. So it was not that anything major had been done yet (Emergency Banking Act and The Economy Act were just going through Congress, so they did not have any effect) but the people’s attitude changed overnight they now had hope and they were ready to fight back and pick themselves up. Are we at that stage?
When Roosevelt closed the banks there were major concerns that when the banks opened back up there would be a run that would force our banking system to collapse. Instead of opening all the banks at once, he staggered the openings and had the most secure open first. (Get the symmetry here; yesterday’s papers announced the financial institutions that could start paying back stimulus funds, a very small % of the banks). So on that Sunday, with the banks set for Monday’s opening, The Fed started delivering truck loads of money to these institutions in anticipation of the huge run they expected.
That Sunday night Uncle Franklin sat the country down to a “Fireside Chat” and with his authority, sternness, and trust he instilled, lectured the nation in a fatherly manner. The banks opened the next morning………. The people brought the cash from under their mattresses they were hoarding, there was no run on the bank there was a run to the banks .Over the next few weeks and months Billions of dollars were deposited and the bank catastrophe was averted.
If you would like to read more about Roosevelt’s 100 days so you have a perspective to judge Obama’s 100 days read this book it is well written and an easy informative read. Nothing to Fear by Adam Cohen just published this year, 2009
Do we have anyone that can do that for us now? Unfortunately our President is like our brother not our father and we are looking at his spending like he is crazy and then we have our Uncle and Aunt; Barney & Nancy, now there are two people that can really instill confidence. No the problem we have is the mass media is our Uncle Franklin and this Uncle speaks out of two sides of their mouth.
Of course we will come out of this economic crisis but why do we have to suffer so long. Perception of change for the better is as good as actual change at the beginning of any recovery. Do we have the perception of change for the better or are we scared we are losing our largest companies to foreign countries. Do we feel we are borrowing money in a financially prudent way or are the next generation and the one after that going to pay the price that we were too ignorant to recognize and change?
