Since 1854, there have been 28 recessions. This means an average of one every 4/5 years. During this time, the longest was 16 months. The shortest seven. Each recession lasted 11 months. However, in every case, consumer spending was higher after each recession than before a recession.
What this means is in every case, recessionary periods are not periods of loss, but actually periods of cumulative gain.
A proven fact of this was on a recent trip to NYC. I was there to meet with a few agents. I was planning to travel to and from the city all in one day. After some delayed meetings, the day got too long to return without being a zombie. So, I began looking for a hotel. Thirty-five hotel inquiries later, the city was booked solid it seemed…even the most expensive hotel rooms. Rooms running $500 a night up.
What did this tell me? People are still finding the money to spend. Have people really stopped spending? No, it isn't human nature to do so. Are they worried about money? Yes. But it hasn't curbed their spending on what they want.
The lesson here is being careful on your thinking. If you feel you're broke, you will attract the same. But are you really broke or just concerned. Are you concerned because it have affected your directly? Or is the media playing you as a zombie?
The people who are saying we're in this until at least 2010 are probably the same ones who were stocking up on batteries and kerosene lanterns in December 1999 fearing everything was going to change when 2000 rolled over.
We hear all the time how people are losing their homes, but is that the majority? Or are these the people who shouldn't have been buying too big a home for their income in the first place. This writer believes the latter. Are there really that many? The media wants us to believe so. The government encapsulates this as well. But maybe, just maybe, the number is higher than before and that's where the scare is coming in.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, when you look at the "real" numbers, including the unemployment numbers for the last five years, you'll see they aren't as bad as the media makes them out to be. I encourage you to review the history and allow this to indicate what's happening today.
The fact still remains, if money is such a shortage, why is the cruise ship I wanted to take all booked up a year in advance.
