I’m a business owner and I am very worried about the economy and the future over the next few years. My company is down from a high of about 65 employees in early 2007 to about 40 today. We haven’t lost a customer but they are spending less. Too be honest I could lose 4 or 5 more guys and we wouldn’t miss them. I’ve cut overtime to zero. I’ve skipped a paycheck or two just to make sure we didn’t have to borrow on our working capital line.
It’s uncertainty for us. I don’t how much this health care fubar is going to cost me. Looks like a minimum rise of 8% in costs no matter what. Payroll taxes are going up I know that. Finally this cap and tax bullshit is going to hit me hard. I use a lot of diesel equipment and trucks in my business so I am going to pay thru the nose. I don’t see BHO authorizing any drilling so prices are going up regardless. I’m treading water and that’s it.
I used to higher the kids of employees in the summer to do odd jobs or general labor. Couldn’t do that last year. I’d also take a shot on young guys who seemed squared away and do some on the job training. Can’t afford that either. We also used to hire some of the daughters of employees to do temp work around the holidays and summer to give the office staff some free time…that ain’t happening either. My office ladies want to work and are begging for overtime.
I’m pretty typical of small business owners I speak with. I’m well capitalized but those who aren’t are really struggling to keep the doors open. I was lucky I dealt with a small local bank who didn’t get boned by the credit crunch. Amex basically got out of the small business market despite what the commercials say. Obama said he is authorizing increases to the SBA and the ARC programs but no bank I know will touch those loans so it’s a hollow promise. I’m even worried about my USD’s dropping and I’m holding some deposits in foreign currency as a hedge. Trust me I’m not the only one.
The business climate is fucked right now. I don’t see it getting better until the Dems are ousted and a busy friendly climate returns. The current crowd is the most negative I have ever seen and I think they will decapitate any recovery that might have happened.
[quote]bond james bond wrote:
Just curious…are the temp agencies suffering in the USA? Here in Canada they have taken over. There are jobs out there, but they are mostly full-time/temp. Companys just string you along so they don’t pay benefits. Plus they don’t pay well.
When I read here people say I’ve been out of work for a year, I think wtf?..go to an agency, it suck but its work.
I’m not calling anyone lazy, just curious as to the differences between Canada and USA in regards to this subject. [/quote]
Business owners do not want to hire permanent employees right now. It is much easier, quicker, and cheaper to hire temporary or contractor workers. Certain industries are better suited to this type of employment and will probably be able to ride out a bad storm on a skeleton crew. So it makes sense that you would see this business model starting to take over.
The union protected industries will be hit the hardest depending on their aversion to contract workers.
Bush was no conservative economically and told everyone he had abandoned his conservative principles to “save the economy” - wow that worked out great and now Obama has continued to do what Bush did (on just about every issue - welcome to Bush Jr’s presidency)
Obama promised that the stimulus would prevent unemployment from rising about 8% - if he couldn’t get that right then NOTHING else he proposes should be taken seriously
true about both accounts. I wrote a research paper on the deficit early last year before it was even an issue to most. Bush inherited a budget surplus believe it or not. There was a trade deficit still, but the federal budget was actually in balance. Post 911 obviously the economy took a hit. Being a supply side economist like Reagan, he cut taxes. This stimulated the economy back to normal. The problem started when he continued his tax cuts after economists advised him they were no longer necessary, thus adding to the structural deficit.
There are two types of deficits, structural and cyclical. Structural is a fiscal issue, ie government expenditures and tax cuts. Cyclical is related to the economy and generally cant be helped too much (unless you are a firm keynesian). Thus, by keeping the tax cuts he started accruing the deficit as well as greatly exacerbated this with spending on two foreign wars. As a result of these three occurrances he did his 180 in a last ditch effort to save the economy. Obama is doing the same thing just in a different fashion, with no viable measure to bring the deficit in check.