Do you think that governments should subsidise the current financial meltdown in the subprime market ie: cut interest rates,150 billion $ rescue package totry and avert arecession,pumping 240 billion$'s in 1day to avert a shorterm credit crisis, is this subsidising greedy financial institutions,who have it lokks like being involved in aTrillion dollar loan scam,but the end result of not “subdidising” would be an immediate DEPRESSION.personally I would let the depression happen as it might stop world greed!We then could all be MAD MAX!
-Maurice
Maurice posted the above comment in another thread (Changing China)…and it brings up an interesting subject. The U.S. economy is like a pan of gravy cooking on a stove…too hot and it boils over, ruining the contents and creating a sticky burnt mess…not hot enough and it’s a mess for other reasons…and right now the cooks are all cranked up on crystal meth. It’s a huge economy and thus has global implications. It’s huge because of a huge population spread over a huge area. While the surf industry generates worldwide sales in the low billions of dollars as near as I can tell, it isn’t limited to the U.S. My guess is that a severe economic problem in the U.S. will make such issues as human rights overseas and import boards go to the back burner while people struggle to get by. And “sporting goods” are notoriously recession-resistent items…but…all this “surf stuff” that comprises the “surf industry” is fairly pricey and a lot of it very fashion-oriented, which means “planned obsolesence”…short shelf life.
Question for the collective Swaylock’s Brain Trust: What do you think the results of a severe recession or worse in the U.S. might be to surfing both in the U.S. and in other countries?
Depends on how severe but these days “the world is flat” has a lot of truth to it and US economy is big enough and interlocked enough that if it goes really down so will everyone else. Could be 1930’s all over again…
we’ll just find another way to bail ourselves out…
Our election will be perfectly timed to create another real or fake TVA to get us by.
powers that be will just create another artificial derivative to sell to another sucker although those are getting hard to come by with the exception of the (16 trillion dollar) sovereign state funds buying up important chunks of the engine that drives most of the US economy. But like they said in the media, at this point beggars can’t be choosy on who’s willing to bail them out. In otherwords the next “scam” as Maurice has indicated is already in the making cause the folks that create such things need them to survive. It’ll be green labeled for sure. Just look around…
Like Dave said the best thing that could happen to the US would be a significant and severe recession to open everyone’s eyes as to the how really decadent our over consumption for “things” and a “good” lifestyle in the US has become…
Personally I don’t think the current generation could take it as everyone from the boomers on have pretty much led a spoon fed life in comparison to the generations before.
The millenials might be our saviours as they don’t seem to be interested in getting ahead financially versus making a difference and enjoying life to its fullest which is why they make such a lousy workforce. The only problem is whether they can carry on with out their starbucks/jamba juice/ipod/sidekick/myspace accessorized texting lifestyle while they try and do the right thing…
I think those desperately trying to become identified as “surfers” with out the effort will thin out, those wanting to just surf and do what they need to do so they can, will still be around like they always have. Things that will greatly affect surfing in our lifetime will be beach access, overcrowding and the resulting pollution and the effects of UV exposure due to pollution accelerated ozone depletion…
Anyone notice the ever growing weird weather lately?
or heard the sad and over looked story of the Tuvalu people?
I’m no futurist or economic expert but it’s becoming hard to believe what I’ve witnessed happening in the world around me these past 30-40 years…
When you put it all togethor it almost seems unreal…
I guess the world is just too busy to worry about it all…
I remember when Clark foam shut down. Didn’t make any difference to me in New Zealand and likewise I believe for other NZ board builders. However it had a substantial effect on many US board builders. Whether or not the effect from a failing US economy would be similar but on a larger scale I do not know. It all comes down to how many eggs you have in one basket I believe, i.e. how dependent are you on the US for your income.