Up, Down and Around Our Town

The last week of the year always brings a lot of things to the surface. Some of it valuable; some worthless. But, in this last week of 2008, there is a lot of movement both locally and nationally that will impact us whether we like it or not.

Top of the list should be the State of the Union. Specifically the economic part. We are a nation at war and that costs billions. We are a nation with a bleeding employment base and that costs both ways. We are a nation that is awaiting a transfer of power from one administration to the next and that bears a price. But, most of all are in a position where we have little direct control over our ultimate future. That's the scary part.

The lure of easy money has again cost Americans its ability to navigate. Now with every credit card household holding more than a $10,000 balance on a piece of plastic, it will take multiple lottery winners to just get that debt to stop escalating. The Wall Street Greed is now being felt worldwide and the housing industry may never be the same. Why? Because we forgot the most basic of economic lessons in that if you want to make a profit, you actually have to manufacture or provide a service that has value. Nothing more; nothing less. Yet the bait of easy, mostly White Collar money, has placed us in the back seat of being able to control our own economic destiny.

Just as Reaganomics is dead, so is the fallacy that the Big 3 Auto Companies will rule the world. They are, in fact, now part of the problem. Perhaps when labor realizes its place, or when Toyota or Nissan tenders an offer to buy one of the Big 3, we will wake to the fact that when there is not market for a high-priced product, that said market will go away. Regardless of the amount of bailout money we throw at Detroit, if they cannot build a vehicle that is priced properly and maintained at a suitable scale, the market dries up. Witness the mountains of unused inventory that is clogging up car lots even today. And, such is not the case that the vehicles are the reincarnation of the Chevy Vega - far from that. The fact is simple - the cost to build these units is based on an artificial level and cost of labor that is adding $4000 or more to each sticker price. Pricing is the key and once something is priced out of the reach of the normal buyer, the buyer looks elsewhere.

Unemployment is tied directly to the entire look at where we are. If the Obama stimulus package involves employment on a Federal level, perhaps a year from now we will see the real progress. But if they turn into "make work" projects and just feed the Washington machine, nothing will occur except the waist lines of a few bureaucrats playing the game as usual. Employment comes from markets that grow and we are getting a little break from the greed of the oil speculators and bringing fuel prices back into a more affordable level. Enjoy it while it lasts.

If nothing else, the drop at the pump has pointed out the domino effect that such an unprecedented rise in cost had on the Amercian economy. Regulation is in our future; count on it.

On a closing couple of notes, my sympathy goes to the family of good friend Bill Hageman who died last week. This incredible man served more meals than Howard Johnson, pulled more horse-drawn carriages than Currier and Ives and impacted the local Quincy community in a way that will probably never be know. His biggest shortfall - he wasn't a self-promoter. Yet Bill impact with the Belgian Hitch, the Shriners, The Exchange Club and the construction community at large will never be minimized. To his wife Marge and his wonderful family, we say thanks for a job well done and wish them well.

Finally, I never saw a star shine so brightly as did my own hero on Christmas. She was the center of attention and knew it. She took it all in, was passed around for all to enjoy and giggle her way thru her first Christmas like a champ. Along with her comedic older brother, they made music that only can be appreciated in person. It was the cap of a wonderful family celebration and was the best gift that one could have asked for. We now have pictures and stories to go with those pictures as we continue to support her growth and potential. Which, I might add, is limitless.

We bid farewell to 2008 and look with some degree of optimism to 2009. Come do it with us from time to time; we'll comment as we go. So, Happy New Year and till 2009, I remain....