By Stu on August 13th, 2010
For the last couple of months I have had some worries about the potential for a double dip recession. There are several indicators that make me worry…
- Very sluggish job market. We are gaining few private sector jobs. Forget the headlines and look at the underlying data. 30-70k jobs a month in the private sector is bad. We need roughly 200k a month to have some form of growth.
- Worker Productivity has risen very steadily for the last 6 months. That should make the case for new hires, but business has not started hiring. That means business is concerned about the future.
By Stu on November 12th, 2009
I am really hoping someone can explain this to me? So first please put down any drinks, sharp objects or the family cat…
So lets just start with the Wall Street Journal’s headline.
Now that you have that interesting logic behind you, lets dig in just a bit more. As I am sure there is some logic here…
The Obama administration, under pressure to show it is serious about tackling the budget deficit, is seizing on an unusual target to showcase fiscal responsibility: the $700 billion financial rescue.
By Stu on November 6th, 2009
Well the jobs report came out today… Welcome to 10.2% unemployment, that is the "official” unemployment rate or U-3 rate. The U-4 (Total unemployed plus discouraged workers) rate is 10.7%, the U-5 (Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other marginally attached workers) is 11.6% and the U-6 (Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons) is 17.5%. The U-3 rate is the highest since April 1983. I still see the real unemployment rate as U-4 or U-5 and it is more reflective of reality. Some one who wants a job, but can’t find one and has stopped looking because there is no use to search, is still unemployed.
There are a few economic terms that I just love…
Rational Ignorance – You spend more time choosing you TV than your elected officials.
Diminishing Return – When you’ve gone past any more effort being useful.
So I now propose “Ignorance Returns” as a new term. Since both are important to understanding our government.
Ignorance Returns – The reelection of Congressman, Senators and the President. Or that we allow the same people who voted them in to vote again.
By Stu on January 27th, 2009
I have been watching how companies are marketing their products during the economic downturn or as the rest of us call it “the crash”. I have seen steep discounts to eliminate excess inventory and promotional sales, I can understand that as a short term solution to help bring revenue. What bothers me is how many companies will use the discount as the solution for the long term.
This is not a real long term solution and runs the risk of positioning a company as a “cheap” product. Then how do you raise prices after the economy rebounds, without damaging your market position?
This is a preview of
Sales and Marketing in a Down Economy or “Judo Sales”
.
Read the full post (575 words, 1 image, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)
For the last couple of months I have had some worries about the potential for a double dip recession. There are several indicators that make me worry…
