The Nature of Things

There was a great episode of Seinfeld where George finds the natural order of things falling apart. He has destructive encounters with birds and then an innocent squirrel which leads to an animal hospital bill and the squirrel's need to coalesce in George's apartment. After each encounter, George wryly observes that humans and animals have a deal to stay out of each other's way. This is George's way to explain the way things work in our world.

When all is well, animals and humans have a way of staying apart and avoiding each other. When all is well, people go to work, buy things, go on vacation and basically go on with their lives without fully comprehending the nature of economics and its impact upon them. When things go off course, people begin to mumble that just maybe the mundane things of life have become more difficult and that they have been dealt a bad hand. The deal if off.

Certainly, we are heading straight into that no deal era. Gas prices climb to record levels and that extra savings money is being poured into the coffers of the oil conglomerates. With the gas pump sucking the extra dollars, many are cutting back on the perks that they have taken for granted. A weakening dollar has kept all but the rich from that long dreamed European vacation. That twice a month trip to Red Lobster and Olive Garden has become a costly affair for the average family and has turned into a once every two months outing. Unless there are more bargain matinees, families are reconsidering two hours at the local movieplex.

If the current deal was only centered on the extraneous, we could all muddle through and know that eventually things will balance out again. But this economic malaise is much deeper. Thousands and perhaps millions have or will be foreclosed from their homes. Construction workers are being laid off. Home Depot and Lowes are cutting back as the remaining homeowners are putting off planned remodeling. Just today, Linen & Things, a national middle class chain, has declared bankruptcy.

Obviously the cycle will continue to accelerate. Car buying will be put off and when new cars are purchased they will be smaller and much more economical. With money becoming precious, middle America has become more leery of Wall Street and brokerage houses and banks are teetering on the edge of ruin.

No one wants to be the voice of doom. Eventually all things balance out and we will get back with the blessed American life that we have come to expect and enjoy. But something has happened for the time being. The deal we so believe in has fallen apart: We work hard, we take care of our families, we enjoy our lives. Now fear has crept into the lives of so many. Will we make the next mortgage payment? Is it really necessary to purchase auto insurance? Can the young ones fit into the hand-me-down clothes of their older siblings? Will my salary be cut and will I be able to buy the nutritious food that my family depends upon? Tough questions for a tough time.