We’re traveling around the country this week visiting family and I’ve enjoyed the time off. I was curious to see, at least from the road, how the economic challenges are affecting people. But it’s hard to see that there are any real economic changes simply from the number of cars on the road, or people eating out at restaurants or shopping. If the nation is verging on a recession, you can’t tell it from where we’ve traveled in the western U.S. But it’s amazing to see how high gas prices are in some states! I saw diesel fuel over $5 per gallon for the first time this week. It must be taking a huge toll on the independent truck drives which is a shame.
So most Americans seem to be going about business as usual. Of course some of us have cut back driving, and reduced spending. Even for this trip we have modified our travel plans based on fuel prices. It’s obvious that some of our weekly spending that would have gone towards discretionary expenses such as entertainment or household goods are now being diverted towards expenses for fuel and food.
Yet even with a struggling economy from a national perspective, there’s growth and building still taking place, especially in the commercial arena. While home builders are sitting idle and struggling for sales, the foreclosure markets are heating up. And the commercial builders are still making new plazas and storefronts for mini-restaurants and niche stores.
Is the nation getting ready for the next leg up in the business cycle? In some places it appears that way. But so much depends on where we go from here. It’s kind of like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Will we start back on the road towards growth or do we continue a long slide towards recession?
It’s good to see the dollar strengthening on comments from Bernanke, but not so good to see that
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