Self Fullfilling prophency (insurance, debt, borrow, mortgages)

[TennisDD]

I honestly think that were are living in a self fullfilling prophency right now. For those who are not heavily invested in the market and near retirement, and have a job, nothing has changed. Last year I had my best year ever in income earned.

So now people watch the news, who everday talk about the Big 3 U.S. automakers and how they could go bellyup, then act shocked when sales figures are low?!?

It is really insane and I have no idea who it is to blame. If the media would spin the next job report as 90% or so people are working, then no one watches the news and advertising pulls out. Who wants to advertise on good news, no one watches.

You could have a new's story on how interest rates low are good, but you could also have one on how they are bad. Same with high interest rates.

I think the moral of the story is focus on yourself. If you have lost your job, things suck. If you lost your job during the soaring economy of the 90s, things sucked just as bad.

[azoria]

Glad to hear you're faring so well.

Our retirement 401k's etc. have been nearly wiped out (remember companies stopped paying pensions several decades ago....), we are less then 10 years from retirement, and I have been un/underemployed for the last year.

I hate to be the one fulfilling someone else's unwanted prophecy.

[Nepenthe]

Originally Posted by TennisDD

If you have lost your job, things suck. If you lost your job during the soaring economy of the 90s, things sucked just as bad.

I half agree with the rest of your post. But on this particular point only, I disagree. In the 90s, in some industries, signing bonuses were the norm. Losing your job might have meant being out of work for three or four weeks, interviewing at several places, choosing between a few offers, and possibly being hired at a higher salary.

Today, the job losses are so broadly based that you're going to have a tough time getting back into the same industry, and if you do it will probably take you a while and you'll almost certainly be at a lower salary. You might be looking at four to six months of looking for jobs in progressively lower end positions/industries. You're also likely to have lost some funds you might use for supporting yourself during the downtime, and if you own a home you might have trouble with it due to falling value.

So I think there are awful times to lose a job and not so terrible times to lose a job.

[neil0311]

I wouldn't say that everything has been a "self-fulfilling prophecy," but there is no doubt in my mind that the constant 24/7 news coverage of doom and gloom, along with the panicked way that the Treasury and Congress made their case for the TARP funds hasn't helped.

This is the first serious downturn where we've had the Internet, blogs, 24 hour cable and satellite news and analysis, and a bunch of folks (such as many on this forum) who love to prognosticate and tell us all about doom and gloom and how the world is ending. After a while, people are affected and that does hasten and worsten the real impacts. 2/3 of the economy is consumer spending, and if consumers don't spend because they've been scared to death by talking heads, the real economy will suffer.

[thebigr]

Originally Posted by neil0311

I wouldn't say that everything has been a "self-fulfilling prophecy," but there is no doubt in my mind that the constant 24/7 news coverage of doom and gloom, along with the panicked way that the Treasury and Congress made their case for the TARP funds hasn't helped.

This is the first serious downturn where we've had the Internet, blogs, 24 hour cable and satellite news and analysis, and a bunch of folks (such as many on this forum) who love to prognosticate and tell us all about doom and gloom and how the world is ending. After a while, people are affected and that does hasten and worsten the real impacts. 2/3 of the economy is consumer spending, and if consumers don't spend because they've been scared to death by talking heads, the real economy will suffer.

I agree with what you said. I know people who don't watch tv much and use a computer for email or paying bills and they seem to be just going on with life.
Then there are the ones who never turn the news off and have there computers attached to them, and they are getting ready for the end of the world just after we kill each other during the depression.

I believe we will all survive it and who knows, we just might learn something and become stronger for it.

[evilnewbie]

How do you "spend" when you have no money and can't borrow money to spend? I think some of you need a wake-up call to reality... this was expected and it is going to be severe... there is no doom and gloom prediction when this was all expected to happen and it is going to get worse cause that's the way things are... not cause of media harping about it... the media doesn't control the economy... people do and when they have no money and mounting debts... guess what... it is doom and gloom...

[TennisDD]

First to comment on Azoria, I am sorry to hear about your 401K. Mine has gone down greatly as well, but I am not near retirement. My purpose was in no way to hoot or holler about my good year, but rather to say things are bad for people at different times. There have been years when personally I have had bad years and the economy was wonderful.

I do believe the media age of today does have a huge impact on our economy. Cell phones, I-Pods, blackberries, internet, 24-7 news channels all saying "It will continue to get worse"
Unless you are self employed, there is no job security at any time. It is just a fact of life. But now people as a whole become overly sensitive and don't spend. Really think about the sound bytes of the last few months:
"The Big 3 could go under, who would want a car with a warranty from them"
"Dont buy gift cards to retailers, they may not honor it"

Then banks could go under, insurance companies. etc. etc. Everyone was freaked out about annuities and will they be honored. Not 1 penny has every been loss by an insurance company because they have reserves set in place, but you never hear of that. So people take their money out, panic. Take them out of the banks, panic.

Etc. Etc. Etc. Sorry for the rant, but I think many underestimate the power our media is having on this time. Are things bad, absolutly. People were dumb with overspending on homes and banking on home values never going down so they can pay their outrageous mortgages. That is what this crisis is really about. We, the people, are the root of the problem. The media just does a great job of putting more logs on the fire.

[evilnewbie]

The media didn't cause the economy to go down... stop trying to use the media as a scapegoat for the world's problems or are you insinuating the media cause the economic problems of other countries as well... the problem has ALWAYS been about debt... you can't buy when you bought too much or was that the media's fault as well... are you suggesting the media be our brains cause we can't use our own? the only problem is the one staring right back at you in the mirror... stop blaming the media for your debts...

[Huckleberry3911948]

Originally Posted by TennisDD

I honestly think that were are living in a self fullfilling prophency right now. For those who are not heavily invested in the market and near retirement, and have a job, nothing has changed. Last year I had my best year ever in income earned.

So now people watch the news, who everday talk about the Big 3 U.S. automakers and how they could go bellyup, then act shocked when sales figures are low?!?

It is really insane and I have no idea who it is to blame. If the media would spin the next job report as 90% or so people are working, then no one watches the news and advertising pulls out. Who wants to advertise on good news, no one watches.

You could have a new's story on how interest rates low are good, but you could also have one on how they are bad. Same with high interest rates.

I think the moral of the story is focus on yourself. If you have lost your job, things suck. If you lost your job during the soaring economy of the 90s, things sucked just as bad.

i am not sure i am understanding. you mean you think the recession is nothing more than media hyp. report that things are great and they will be?

[jimmyP]

Evilnewbie, great post. Some people prefer to ignore reality and stick their proverbial head in the sand. While I will admit some media is overly negative, the fact is we have a seriously declining economic situation and it wasn't created by the media. It was created by irresponsible borrowers and lenders.