Our Economic Albatrous
Company: Wester Union Business Solutions
A great opinion piece from Mr. El-Erian. He points out what is negatively impacting the US and highlights some issues that I have raised in several of my presentations.
One thing that I have mentioned is that the US has changed structurally from a borrowing nation to a nation that is borrowing less and hopefully saving more. Which means demand for good and services are not going to be as high as they were before our "Lehman Moment". Essentially the "invisible hand" that we tried to manage for such a long time is waiting for the markets to reach a fair equilibrium (e.g., the housing market). We are far from reaching this moment from the countless data that is telling us that we are going through very long and arduous economic recovery. Right now the amoung of debt here and abroad is our economic albatrous.
Right now the amount of debt here and abroad is our economic albatross.
Comments
Company: Zeidler Associates
One of my clients passed me a great book last month called "In Praise of Hard Industries" (http://t.co/WrK3BVg). The premise of the book, written in 1999, is that services will always go to low-cost providers, but that industries that require skilled labor in conjunction with big capital expenses, will never get outsourced. The author points to German optical lens manufacturing and Japanese high-grade silicon production. Both require big capital expenses for tools and a skilled labor force to operate them.
I look at the small businesses I know that are doing well these days, and by and large, it's companies that make a product.
Company: TTX
Deleveraging is certainly a drag on economic recovery, while healthy in the famous long run [I know we are all dead then]. Gliding to a "soft landing" is the policy challenge, one being handled less than well so far.