Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Interesting Times

It does seem the entire US financial picture becomes bleeker on a daily basis now with oil prices so high, the housing market crashing, and thousands of folks getting laid off.

This was the month that the toy car manufacturer (Mattel) is worth more than the car manufacturer (GM).

I can't help but think the oil producers will soon figure out that destroying their customers financially isn't a smart long term business practice, that houses will go down 50% and stabilize, and that the US needs to be back in the business of building things once again.

I think minting a few less MBAs and lawyers would be a great start. Minds that bright should be creating wealth, not trying to redistribute it while creating nothing.

In the short term we must produce our own energy once again in an environmentally friendly fashion, stop selling off our assets on the cheap, and realize that it's time to buy stuff made by Americans again.

Equally, "free trade" must also mean fair trade. We have a $367 billion trade deficit this year to date already, and that has got to stop. That's about $23,000 per second. The low dollar has made many of our still surviving services competitive again and hopefully these fields will prosper.

In short, it's time to get back to work, stop the financial shenanigans, and stop dealing with partners that are not looking out for our interests as well.

Go buy an American car. The job you save may be your own.