Finding a Bottom: The Numbers Aren't Enough
Many financial bloggers pay a great deal of attention to data and trends. Yet in my view, the numbers alone aren't enough. Decisions that drive markets and economic activity are made by people. They, in turn, are influenced by experiences, emotions and attitudes, among other things. When people feel good about themselves or are optimistic about the future, they buy or borrow. When they are uncertain or anxious, they sell or save.
Under the circumstances, the following BusinessWeek commentary, "Welcome to the Frozen Economy," by Shoshana Zuboff, author of The Support Economy: Why Corporations Are Failing Individuals and the Next Episode of Capitalism, suggests that those who are trying to figure out when a bottom might come by focusing almost exclusively on what the statistics say might be somewhat misguided.
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This article has 3 comments:
nice short article, thanks
Our cost levels of food and fuel are still below Europe's typical prices. Our current unemployment is less than any of the major European countries.
The author chastises GM for wasting opportunities to develop more efficient engines. Maybe the real issue here is the folks sitting around in restaurants that wasted the opportunities to save a few bucks during the "good old days" whenever they were.