So, let's take for a second that the doom and gloom predictions on this forum come true. That is, let's assume oil remains at or around $150 a barrel, triggering 20% inflation abroad, 12-15% in the U.S, interest rates approach 15%, etc. etc - dow falls to 10,000, NASDAQ to 2000, and so, on and so forth. You know - the usual kind of talk around here. I'm excluding the extremist "I need guns and ammo and to start growing my own tomatoes in my fortress in Idaho" crowd because I think that even in the very bearish ATPN forums, most people don't have realistic expectations that a scenario like that would happen.
My own personal set of beliefs is that this won't happen, that equities will recover, oil will slide below $100 by year-end and that food prices will keep going higher, but in reality that food prices squeeze the third world more than the united states and it isn't a huge tax on the economy besides forcing people to eat fewer energy-intensive things like red meat . But let's assume that I'm very wrong.
Economies are ALWAYS cyclical. They have always been, and always will be. This is one of the fundamental tenants of capitalism. The 70s were worse than now; and in the 1940s you couldn't even buy a car or gas at ANY price, so it's absurd to argue that we are in a more precarious position now than then. Since we take this as a given, when will the economy begin to expand at 4%+ again?
My own personal set of beliefs is that this won't happen, that equities will recover, oil will slide below $100 by year-end and that food prices will keep going higher, but in reality that food prices squeeze the third world more than the united states and it isn't a huge tax on the economy besides forcing people to eat fewer energy-intensive things like red meat . But let's assume that I'm very wrong.
Economies are ALWAYS cyclical. They have always been, and always will be. This is one of the fundamental tenants of capitalism. The 70s were worse than now; and in the 1940s you couldn't even buy a car or gas at ANY price, so it's absurd to argue that we are in a more precarious position now than then. Since we take this as a given, when will the economy begin to expand at 4%+ again?