We're doing fine so far, but with two kids approaching working age - one in college, one in high school - we wonder how much longer we'll have to be supporting them with the job market the way it is.
Things won't turn around until consumers start consuming again, and that won't happen until they feel their jobs are secure and their debts are under control. How bailing out the banks, other financial institutions and large manufacturers might help anything is beyond me. So far it seems that a good portion of that money has been used for unjustifiably astronomical salaries and bonuses, luxury acquisitions and office renovations. The problem is that these people don't 'need' more money (despite what they seem to think). Yes, some have gone from $100 million fortunes to $50 million fortunes. So what? Their lifestyles aren't likely to suffer. We are witnessing an unprecedented transfer of wealth from the poorest to the richest. 'They' can coast along quite nicely for five or ten years without noticing a thing, meanwhile 'they' saddle future generations of lowly waitresses and IT techs with billions of dollars (trillions?) of debt. If the free market was good enough for them on the way up, then it ought to be good enough for them on the way down, too. On the other hand, if they are, as everyone says "too big to fail", then they must accept the deadening hand of regulation to keep them from recklessly gambling away our collective prosperity and well-being.
Things won't turn around until consumers start consuming again, and that won't happen until they feel their jobs are secure and their debts are under control. How bailing out the banks, other financial institutions and large manufacturers might help anything is beyond me. So far it seems that a good portion of that money has been used for unjustifiably astronomical salaries and bonuses, luxury acquisitions and office renovations. The problem is that these people don't 'need' more money (despite what they seem to think). Yes, some have gone from $100 million fortunes to $50 million fortunes. So what? Their lifestyles aren't likely to suffer. We are witnessing an unprecedented transfer of wealth from the poorest to the richest. 'They' can coast along quite nicely for five or ten years without noticing a thing, meanwhile 'they' saddle future generations of lowly waitresses and IT techs with billions of dollars (trillions?) of debt. If the free market was good enough for them on the way up, then it ought to be good enough for them on the way down, too. On the other hand, if they are, as everyone says "too big to fail", then they must accept the deadening hand of regulation to keep them from recklessly gambling away our collective prosperity and well-being.