As you may or may not know, our economy needs to be corrected all the time. We are either going up or going down but it is impossible to stay the same. When we talk about correction, we are usually talking about a market correction. If the market only went up, we would have astronomical inflation and our money would be worth less. If the economy only went down, our money would be worth less as well. What always has to happen is that the economy has to correct itself.
I do not believe in scarcity for the most part. What I do believe is that everything will only survive if you make it survive. The outcome is on your shoulders.We can keep building retail stores all day long but you must bring in the traffic to support them. What usually ends up happening though, is that business men and women do not follow the trends that are ahead and then one day it all comes crashing down on them. It is not because we can have only so many retail stores. It is because people's buying habits are changing and the Internet has taken over a lot of the retail world. What these businesses need to understand is that in order to capture and keep the market they have, they must do better. They must figure out that customer service will have to rise to a new level. Cost need to be cut in order to service better and give a better deal. Many have not learned this message and are paying for it right now in this downturn.
As much as we may hate having the economy go soft, we need it to from time to time to make the necessary corrections. We need it to get rid of the bad, lower prices and make people better than what they are. Housing prices were getting out of control and were being made affordable to only the wealthy. This is a huge mistake and so it had to be corrected.
There have been so many arrogant companies out there for the past 10 -12 years thinking they can be as they wish and not care about the consumer. They were simply playing a numbers game. Now the tables have been shifted and the customer is now playing a numbers game. If you are going to get the business then you had better dance for them. Mediocrity is not going to work anymore. People want the best bang for their buck.
Another upside to the down turn economy is that people are starting to realize they need to be more mindful of their money and finances. There was a lot of waste being committed and no one had any liquidity. This is very dangerous for a society as once too many people become poor, the up rise. This has been the case for every great nation since the beginning of time. We need to reteach people economics and help them to be better managed with their finances. The trick to a rich society is education. We need to embrace the idea of getting people the information they need to thrive in a responsible manner. We can avoid false economies if we show people how easy it can be to create real wealth and how to manage it once they have it. We need to teach people to say no I can't afford that right now. Then teach them to say, "how can I afford that?" Good finances is about having the discipline and knowledge to make sound decisions. I hope that is what we are learning from this economic downturn.
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