Very well put, esp. the part about there being no industry to "hire into."
After 27 years, I can assume that many have retired in the process of orchestrating the ruin we now see.
Oddly, in the Seattle area, the high end housing market has heated up, for now at least. And some areas already have shown year-over-year gains in prices. Phenomenal, I think. The wishful thinking out there is spectacular. I believe housing here at least is behaving like a glider on a calm day -- big drop, a bit of a gust (taxpayer's feet to the fire) and sheer velocity allow for a temporary climb from the recent lows, but the steroid-enhanced joy will all end shortly.
Here's something telling. I run a season ticket pool for the Seattle Mariners. They probably will not make the playoffs, yet they have done well enough that MLB ordered them to print playoff tickets just in case. Every prior year when this has occurred, my plan buddies lap up all possible tickets, and then some extras, too, up to and including 2005, the most recent year we were offered possible tickets. This year, however, demand was precisely zero. Nada. Zilch. It isn't just that they probably won't make the playoffs -- that has been the case more than 1/2 the time they've offered tickets. The economic future simply is not passing the smell test right now. |
