When will you go back to normal?

[godisney14]

We do/did have a good economy. If you don't, let it crash and see what kind of shape we'll be in. Our problem as Americans is we are addicted t o"stuff". We like owning things. Nice cars. big screen tv's etc. To go along with that, we aren't very good at managing finances. We think nothing about buying a $5 cup of coffee and a $10 lunch every day instead of putting $15 a day in a rainy day fund. Driving around town looking an big houses with nice cars I used to think man these people are loaded. Now I understand most just own a ton of dept. I have tried to adapt to more of a minimalist lifestyle and it has helped. Just cant seem to kick the Disney habit tho. I hope this is a huge wake up call for some folks as well.

People can argue about the economy to death.
Here’s my very overly simplified take: The US economy has been built on increasing debt.

This has been the case for many decades now. The national debt has been doubling every 10 years for a long time. (Obviously, a tiny portion of that is inflation adjustment). The debt to GDP ratio has also been growing every year, now at over 100%, and will be a lot more as well due to the current situation. There’s no one party at fault as all parties are equally prone to increasing the debt. The difference being how that debt is distributed.
As jkh36619 notes, this is partly from Americans being addicted to “stuff” IMO as well.

 

[godisney14]

This is a very upper middle class view of the problems with our economy.

It takes more than a booming stock market and low unemployment to constitute a good economy. Quality of jobs matters too. The lack of real wage growth, coupled with skyrocketing costs of health care, housing and education, and the shift to part time and contingent work have made the recovery very much a not-good economy for the bottom half of wage earners. Wages in many sectors aren't even growing fast enough to keep up with insurance premiums - the last two cost-of-living increases my husband got were more than fully offset by increases in the employee share of our insurance costs, and his employer is generally better than most non-union workplaces in his industry. That's not a strong economy for workers, even if his employer did post record profits in both of those years.

Also, true.

 

[SaintsManiac]

All I know is that I never experienced much economy discussion until I started reading the DIS. It seems to be a passion for people here.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

All I know is that I never experienced much economy discussion until I started reading the DIS. It seems to be a passion for people here.

It's a fairly common topic for my husband and I, for our in-laws as are a variety of other topics, not so much friends I would say . But I always had in-depth discussions growing up so it's natural to me and isn't something I reserve just for the DIS

 

[SaintsManiac]

It's a fairly common topic for my husband and I, for our in-laws as are a variety of other topics, not so much friends I would say . But I always had in-depth discussions growing up so it's natural to me and isn't something I reserve just for the DIS

Cool. I just don't care about it as much as I care about other things. I've never had the kind of money that matters in the grand scheme of economy and I don't care about stocks one bit.

 

[jamescanuck2001]

As soon as things are open I am ready to go. I am relatively young and healthy. Ready to support the herd immunity theory

There have been a few reports on loss of immunity, and yesterday Harvard University released a report saying immunity to the coronavirus may be temporary, similar to the common cold. So herd immunity may not be viable, except by repeated (annual?) vaccine.

 

[Farro]

Cool. I just don't care about it as much as I care about other things. I've never had the kind of money that matters in the grand scheme of economy and I don't care about stocks one bit.

We don't talk about it much unless we are worried a bit.

We've accepted will always have some kind of debt, be paying some kind of bills, etc. for the rest of our lives. We just pay the bills, save what we can while still being able to enjoy life and take it day by day.

 

[jkh36619]

This is a very upper middle class view of the problems with our economy.

It takes more than a booming stock market and low unemployment to constitute a good economy. Quality of jobs matters too. The lack of real wage growth, coupled with skyrocketing costs of health care, housing and education, and the shift to part time and contingent work have made the recovery very much a not-good economy for the bottom half of wage earners. Wages in many sectors aren't even growing fast enough to keep up with insurance premiums - the last two cost-of-living increases my husband got were more than fully offset by increases in the employee share of our insurance costs, and his employer is generally better than most non-union workplaces in his industry. That's not a strong economy for workers, even if his employer did post record profits in both of those years.

I wouldn't call myself upper middle class. I work for local goverment will "ok" pay but good benefits. Raises are rare and when we do get them our insurance premiums usually increase as well. I just have a mindset to be prepared down the road. I owe that to my parents. But you are right. Many many many factors go into a good economy. I am merely suggesting after this people take a serious look at how prepared they are for the future.

 

[choirfarm]

We don't talk about it much unless we are worried a bit.

We've accepted will always have some kind of debt, be paying some kind of bills, etc. for the rest of our lives. We just pay the bills, save what we can while still being able to enjoy life and take it day by day.

Why are you going to Disney if you have "some kind of debt"?

 

[Farro]

Why are you going to Disney if you have "some kind of debt"?

It's not something you need to be concerned with.
In fact, that was a rather annoying question. Go take care of yourself and don't worry about me.
.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We don't talk about it much unless we are worried a bit.

We've accepted will always have some kind of debt, be paying some kind of bills, etc. for the rest of our lives. We just pay the bills, save what we can while still being able to enjoy life and take it day by day.

That's really all you can do. I still haven't even moved my 401k from my old job. Just haven't gotten to it. My husband and I are still in shell shock over being free from credit card debt. He literally started at the bottom of his department and now he's Mr. Big Time (as I call him). We are not used to it and still act like we are broke.

Right now I am worried about my state, because with New Orleans canceling all festivals and the possibility of football season being canceled they will be in big trouble. There's nothing I can do about it, though. Just have to wait and see.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Cool. I just don't care about it as much as I care about other things. I've never had the kind of money that matters in the grand scheme of economy and I don't care about stocks one bit.

We don't talk about stocks personally but we have plenty of other such discussions. I think it all depends on what you're used to, what stage in life you might be in terms of what you talk about, if it even interests you to talk about a variety of things, etc which is all very valid. It's not like I'm some stock broker going over my 401k with a fine tooth comb, but that doesn't mean I don't care about how my state is doing, the money going towards the roads and the equality in the per pupil spending in my state among other things.

To me it's not about having that kind of money in the context you're talking about. I agree me personally may not be anywhere near impactful to the economy but I am impacted overall from the state of the economy both on a national and state level, I'd argue many of us are more impacted by state and/or regional strength or weakness in the economy than on a national level.

In any case no one has to care nor talk about it I certainly know many who aren't interested in talking just as I know many who are interested in talking about various things. Don't worry I'm not expecting much further conversation on it no worries on that front!

*I honestly can't tell if you're injecting a bit of snark or not into your comments TBH

 

[SaintsManiac]

We don't talk about stocks personally but we have plenty of other such discussions. I think it all depends on what you're used to, what stage in life you might be in terms of what you talk about, if it even interests you to talk about a variety of things, etc which is all very valid. It's not like I'm some stock broker going over my 401k with a fine tooth comb, but that doesn't mean I don't care about how my state is doing, the money going towards the roads and the equality in the per pupil spending in my state among other things.

To me it's not about having that kind of money in the context you're talking about. I agree me personally may not be anywhere near impactful to the economy but I am impacted overall from the state of the economy both on a national and state level, I'd argue many of us are more impacted by state and/or regional strength or weakness in the economy than on a national level.

In any case no one has to care nor talk about it I certainly know many who aren't interested in talking just as I know many who are interested in talking about various things. Don't worry I'm not expecting much further conversation on it no worries on that front!

*I honestly can't tell if you're injecting a bit of snark or not into your comments TBH

No snark. I just think people use it as a political tactic and I hate that (I don't mean you). The only economy I am concerned about is my state's.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

No snark. I just think people use it as a political tactic and I hate that (I don't mean you). The only economy I am concerned about is my state's.

Ohhh..ok. I see what you mean.

I am more concerned, as a whole, about my state and my metro (which is both sides of the state line) more than a national level so I def. agree with you there.

 

[jlwhitney]

There have been a few reports on loss of immunity, and yesterday Harvard University released a report saying immunity to the coronavirus may be temporary, similar to the common cold. So herd immunity may not be viable, except by repeated (annual?) vaccine.

If we lose immunity as fast as the common cold then we would need vacciness montly. There is a reason why we get colds so easily, we don't build much immunity at all.

 

[b2k1121]

Why are you going to Disney if you have "some kind of debt"?

Almost everyone is carrying some kind of debt. Disney would be empty if you shouldn't go on vacation if you have any debt. Also, people should still live their lives and be allowed to have fun, even if they have debt.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Why are you going to Disney if you have "some kind of debt"?

I have a mortgage and a car note. Am I allowed to go to Disney?

 

[Farro]

If we lose immunity as fast as the common cold then we would need vacciness montly. There is a reason why we get colds so easily, we don't build much immunity at all.

If that happens then that becomes the point as a society where we have to accept Covid is a part of our lives from now on. We won't stay closed forever, so will need to learn to adapt.

We can take better care of ourselves - quit smoking, lose weight if needed, keep up with doctor's appointments. Believe me, I'm yelling at people in my life now who don't take their HTN seriously. If we can reduce our chances at deadly comorbidities, we can reduce death rate associated with Covid.

Start paying attention to our minority and lower income communities who need better access to healthcare and get rid of food deserts. Does everyone realize they are the hardest hit with deaths from Covid? Apparently it's unhealthy to be poor. Time to fix our healthcare. Time to try and mend distrust of government. Time to try and build up the areas that need help. (yes, I'm looking hard at us Chicagoans) These will be difficult conversations on all sides, but maybe it's time to start.

And lastly be mindful of people at risk. Don't hug, wash hands, stay away from them if you've been sick. And for people at risk, be sensible in where you go - wear a mask if you have to, wash hands, and avoid large crowds if needed.

We will adapt. I actually meant this to be a positive post! I do believe we will have more robust testing which will help tremendously with contact tracing and containment.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Why are you going to Disney if you have "some kind of debt"?

Wow - that is quite a statement. There are times I have debt because it makes fiscal sense - for instance debt at a low interest rate versus putting money into the market where returns are many times more than the interest rate I am paying on said debt.

I am going to buy a new car - and now they are offering zero percent interest on car loans. Could I buy a car with cash? Of course - but why would I? So I am going to take on debt AND am still going to Disney in October.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Why are you going to Disney if you have "some kind of debt"?

I don't think you meant that to come off like it did..but well it did