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Where is this recession I keep hearing abt ?


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Hi All,

 

Yes, several of my colleagues (I work in IT) have been laid off, but I get the distinct impression that a lot of it has been 'we liked you when times were good, but the honeymoon is over'. I believe that those who have left are finding it hard to get a new job, but it cant be anywhere near as bad as we are told for job seekers in the US and Britain.

 

We are also told that consumer spending has fallen into a very large hole in those countries, yet everytime I go to the shops here in Brissie its like bloody Xmas. I just cant reconcile the media reports with the 'reality' that I am seeing around me - still thousands trooping into office buildings each day, and plenty on other forums talking about buying widescreen TVs and computers : wtf ? I dont particularly want to walk past boarded up shops and people begging, but I think we are living in some sort of denial here in QLD.

 

Thoughts ?

 

Gobble

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I remember the recession we had to have when living in Brisvegas. It wasn't good but Queen St Mall wasn't boarded up etc.

 

However I went on a trip to Sydney and Melbourne - Sydney was obviously harder hit than Brisbane and Melbourne definitely even harder hit than Sydney.

 

I think we're lucky in the Sunshine state.

 

When in Washington in June I saw the central area (Very nice area) with boarded up shops - now if a capital is hurting that bad the rest of USA must have been really bad.

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In the mining game things are looking very grim unless you are a gold miner. Base metals is totally fcuked.

 

A lot of very stressed people at the moment. A lot of people that I know with many years of experience are now "on holiday" for the forseeable future. lots of places going into "care and maintenance" all over the world.

 

A few months ago no one wanted to work in some of the more dodgy locations... now they are lining up.

 

I think i might open pie van near the beach.

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Why do you assume that if you and your economic class can't afford flat-screen TVs, no one else is buying them? There's a very long line to the top. Look to the people buying Gucci, Coach and other "aspirational" luxury goods for a better idea of how hard people are being hit.

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It's dead here.

 

Like a ghost town in most shops and malls.

 

No soup lines yet nor anyone selling apples on the street. But darn close.

 

I'm off to Florida next week to look at new homes. Heck, I can place the price of the new home on my Mastercard.

 

Wait . . . isn't that how we got into this mess in the first place?

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Why do you assume that if you and your economic class can't afford flat-screen TVs, no one else is buying them?

 

Er, the point I was trying to make is that people ARE still lashing out on consumer items that I would consider 'luxuries' at a time when many of us are wondering if we will still have a job come June. I dont really care what the Bollinger and Beluga set are doing - even if I had that kind of money, the crap those people usually spend it on does nothing for me. Perhaps if we hadnt had so many of these self-indulgent prats at the 'top', the world might just be in better shape. :banghead:

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When I go back to the UK in May, I'll spend time in London and Edinburgh and I'm sure that when I go shopping in say Oxford St in London or Princess St in Edinburgh I won't notice much difference in the number of people shopping than when I was there last year or the year before. There probably will be less, but not enough to be that noticeable, but I'm sure all the retailers will report lower revenues. People will always shop, recession or no recession, but I'm sure they are more careful about what they buy and how much they spend.

 

I stil go to my local bar in Dubai but I have changed my drinking habits such that I spend less now than I used to. The bar may look as busy as ever but it wouldn't surprise me if receipts are a bit lower than before.

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