Dismal consumer sentiment readings. The worst economy since the Great Depression. Vice-President Elect Joe Biden says the economy is in danger of "falling into an abyss." President Elect Obama says it could take years for the economy to recover.
Does anyone get the feeling that the new President and his supporters in the media are sandbagging the American economy? I mean, it would make sense wouldn't it? If they are successful, that would seem to give them free reign to pass a new stimulus package virtually unlimited in size, far beyond what the American public would willingly allow if we were in merely a recession.
I fear that is where we are headed. I expect that come late January we will see a truly gargantuan economic stimulus package with every liberal democrat project you can image. I also expect that shortly after its automatic approval by the new leftist congress we will begin to see stories in the media and from the new White House administration of recovery in the economy. And low and behold, the "reason" given for the recovery will be the Liberal's economic agenda. I can see it now: the fulfillment the new Messiah's "hope and change."
So, what am I going to do about it? I am investing. I think buying the stock of great companies when they are depressed and holding them for the long term is always a great idea. I also believe there are some very good selective opportunities in real estate. For the first time in quite a while it is possible to buy a property a such depressed levels that significant positive cash flow can be achieved with a reasonable down-payment and a conservative assessment of income generation. I continue to believe that if you are prepared to hold you investments for the long term, this could be the buying opportunity of a lifetime in a number of asset classes.
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8 comments:
it seems to me that no matter what you believe, we're in a situation that is going to hurt; a lose-lose.
i think the best way to look at it is this: how can we make it so the loss hurts less in both the short and long term?
more importantly, how can we inspire people to want to make it better? that's a real trick.
and if people don't have any hope for a better future, then why bother at all?
i see your point, but i have to ask - how different would the scenario be with a Republican President and a conservative house/Senate?
The difference is the political bias of the media. No Republican administration has ever had the luxury of a supportive...no, adoring mainstream media.
Don't get me wrong. Obama will be my President too and I wish him the best for the good of our country. I do, however, feel like we are living through a deliberate effort to depict the economy as poorly as possible to give Obama as long of a grace period as possible as well as allow them and the new congress to pass what I fear will be very damaging legislation.
the media is notorious for being liberal, i give you that.
be that as it may, Reagan won in both 1980 and 1984 in landslide victories and even though his popularity ratings weren't all that spectacular with the people, the media contends that he was one of the most popular presidents ever.
and it makes sense. Reagan had charisma and that's really what Obama has that the media adores. Clinton had the same advantage with both the media and the public.
and look at Palin...the media warmed up to her, too. not at first when she was obviously coached and unprepared, but toward the end of the campaign when she finally decided to be herself and speak her mind (i like to think of the debate with Biden as the beginning of Palin's campaign) - they applauded her for that and so did many women the world over, including myself.
i don't believe that the media supporting a candidate or not influences an election outcome. if it did, GW Bush would have never won the Republican nomination in 2000 over McCain. and if it did, GW never would have secured a second term - by 2004, the media was rabid and wanted him OUT. and even with low approval ratings in the polls, GW secured a second term.
i am not suspicious of Obama's upcoming Presidency and i believe that whatever legislation is passed in the next few years, it will be done with only the best intentions, right or wrong, good or bad, palatable or not.
like i said above, this is a bad situation no matter what. sure, taxes will go up. sure, we will see it get worse before it gets better. and yeah, i'm quite sure mistakes will be made. it doesn't matter if it's a Republican or a Democrat or Ralph Nader in the White House - the problem remains the same: how do we fix this? and the reality of it is, no matter what the decision is, there will be many more people unhappy with the proposed solution than happy with it, no matter what the media says. it's the American way.
It has been Holy Writ for the Democratic Party for 50 years that the problem with the New Deal was that it was only about 10% as big as it should have been. There is a thesis that WWII spending showed how massive the government's intervention needed to be to make the Keyensian "priming the pump" concept actually work.
As Karl Rove says "We're all Keynesian's now..."
Sean, you really have to admit that GWBush has had a more sympathetic media than any modern President, maybe since Kennedy.
He has a full time propaganda machine running in FOX News. He has virtually all of Talk Radio. Even the New York Times has admitted that its coverage of the lead up to the Iraq war and the response to 9/11 was below their own journalistic standards.
GWBush has committed acts that should have gotten him impeached several times over, and has been criminally negligent in the exercise of his duties. And I say that as man who voted for him twice and (as you know) am a pretty hard core Republican.
Actually, I couldn't disagree more about W having a sympathetic media. And while I have been disappointed in some of W's decisions, particularly with regard to the ill-advised $700b TARP and auto company bailouts, I think the comment about him having committed impeachable act is just silly, IMHO. Like him or not, he has been the most moral and ethical president we have had since the great Ronald Reagan.
I appreciate the comments. Get's the rhetorical juices flowing. Thanks.
I saw an interesting story about this very subject. Check it out below. Senator DeMint must have read my blog post!
(http://businessandmedia.org/articles/2009/20090127165919.aspx)
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