If you focus on the dire straits of marketing professionals then Houston, we have a problem.

But if your concern is with the consumer, otherwise known as the American People, then this recession looks more like a return to financial sanity.

Wasn’t this whole housing – slash – credit problem created by wanton spending with no foresight into the consequences of such behavior? Welcome, back to Planet Earth!

Was I the only one watching houses sky rocket over the last few years with jaw dropped wondering how an average family could afford to buy one and have the luxury of eating?

Was I alone in watching people buy houses they couldn’t come close to being able to afford and wondering, why is the bank loaning them so much money when they know they can’t pay it back?

 I see all the price of homes come back down to earth with a sigh of relief thinking, thank you God, maybe I’ll be able to live somewhere decent.

When I read that it looks like people will stop financing a car every other year I think Thank Goodness consumers have come to their senses and realized a car shouldn’t be going in and out of fashion between 2007 and 2008! That trend really had me worried.

When I hear about retailers not showing growth, I breath a sigh of relief that consumers have started to realize that all those credit cards have to be paid back – with interest to credit card companies that have become much like loan sharks.

When I read that President Bush and congress have resolved to send us all “free” money with a stimulus package designed to keep us spending I think , What the hell is wrong with you? Isn’t that how we got in this mess in the first place? Telling us to pacify ourselves with spend, spend, spend retail therapy? What kind of economic policy is that?

Haven’t we learned that just because we’ve found more and more ways to spend money that isn’t ours doesn’t meant that we should? This kind of spending should not be confused with a sound economy.

Consumer spending shouldn’t be our barometer for whether our economy is strong or not – not when most of what consumers are spending is borrowed at extremely high interest rates! Hello!

When I hear recession I’m thinking – finally, people are starting to listen to the likes of Suze Orman, Dave Ramsey, and others (like myself) who have called for a halt to the kind of foolish borrowing and spending that’s marked the last few years with a kind of financial delirium.

This recession in that light – is the best thing that’s happened to consumers in a long time. 

In other words, It’s about time everyone started listening to me!  

Post from: Blisstree

Recession or Sanity?