Weak economy creates positives for our industry
Jerry Epperson -- Furniture Today, August 4, 2008
That loud noise you heard in late June was the economy bottoming out, according to several respected economists.
Steps taken over the last nine months to reverse the economic decline should be having an impact by now. Lower interest rates, an increasing money supply, tax incentives for corporations, reinforcements to housing lenders, and the modest economic stimulus checks to most American households all take time to yield results. The new housing bill on the President's desk is another step, although lower home prices in many states were beginning to attract the attention of home buyers, too.
In times of both economic doom and boom, we tend to project that things will continue to get better or worse. The truth is that our economy has its own self-correcting measures to slow either extreme, and we have seen them in force over the past decade in tech stocks, housing, oil prices and other ways. When things get too expensive, Americans stop buying, then at some point value reappears and the cycle resumes. (Why do I feel like I am writing about "The Lion King?")
It is now August and we are nearing the most important sales months of our year. The time has come to begin to look to our future and recognize that some other sectors may not have the positive factors we are facing.
Look at the headlines. The higher gas prices are making corporate America face some serious issues.
Many companies and local governmental agencies are offering their employees the option of going to four-day work weeks. That increases the days per week in the home by 50%! Four-day work weeks save energy, traffic density and pollution.
Other employers are allowing more people to work out of their homes, commuting to a central office occasionally. In addition to energy and pollution benefits, companies save on expensive office rent and can keep some valuable employees who have family responsibilities that might keep them from working in an office. The employees save the time and cost of commuting, the cost of dressing up for the office, dining out and perhaps the need for two cars. Fortunately, we have the electronics and other communications that will allow more people to work from their homes.
In my last column I mentioned "staycations" and how people are staying home and not taking expensive vacations. Have you looked at the cost of going to Europe with the U.S. dollar as weak as it is?
The time has come to be positive about our prospects. You can make money and gain market share in a weak economy.
