Saturday, April 27, 2013

What happens after a Quake...there are Aftershocks. What About the US Economy?


What if you read a book that said the future for the economy is anything but recovery. It focused on indicators that many don't recognize or have chosen to ignore. Who needs more bad news..Right? I couldn't agree with you more on the lack of a need for more bad news, however where I might disagree is the idea of putting our head into the sand and not taking any steps to understand what is in store for the future of our economy. The point of this message is that the truth is not always what we want to hear or can handle. However, the intent is not to discourage or insight fear, it is a message of a reality that could present itself in the next few years and if we don't take steps there is a good chance we will not be ready. The reality of our most recent experience is that many were shocked and surprised by the downturn of the economy in 2008-2009 and were caught completely off guard with respect to having a business or personal strategy to deal with a downturn of that magnitude. Personally speaking I was one of those caught of guard with my business that we started in 2005 but was yet to show a true sign of life. I realized at the onset that starting a new business was not easy or to be taken lightly but we did the research and found what we thought to be a viable business plan and strategy to open a discount store that catered to the dollar store market as well as the discount store. We aligned with the branding of the day and called it a dollar plus store to suggest it would carry a large inventory of items typical to a dollar store but in addition a number of upscale products that were discount items and not dollar store. We met many challenges as new businesses do, like questions from our clients like why isn't everything a dollar and working with a business start up company that were extremely helpful upfront but once they had our money became less and less available to assist our needs. While our discount store business is a lesson in itself it is not the focus of this message. The reason I mention our stores that open in 2005 and 2007 as independent dollar plus location one in Schaumburg and the other in Hoffman Estates IL. Is to point out that what was a struggle in the beginning became a business failure nightmare as we entered the worst economy downturn in the United States since the great depression. While the hand writing may have been on the wall given the number of obstacles we encountered along the way when we saw major chains announcing they were closing their doors and laying off thousand of people we knew this was more than a usual downturn but a major shift in the world economy as we knew it. I was doing a little research on forecast for the future and ran across a book that I suggest anyone that wants to plans for the uncertain times to come and have a true chance of both understanding the reasons why and having viable recommendations on how to prepare for it. The title of the book is Aftershock 2nd Edition written by the author given credit for providing the best prediction for the first financial meltdown in the United States in 2008-2009 that impacted not only the US economy but had a ripple affect across the world. The authors David Wiedemer PHD, Robert Wiedemer and Cindy Spitzer knew the worst was yet to come and felt compelled to disclose the facts as they understood them in a hope it would position those who heard and got the message we have a better chance to position themselves for whats to come. Their first book in the series called the America's Bubble Economy by John Wiley & Sons in 2006) accurately predicted the popping of major economy bubbles or indicators of the health of the US economy. These bubbles were the following



  • Real Estate Bubble
  • Private Debt Bubble
  • Stock Market Bubble
  • Consumer Spending Bubble



In two years later most of their prediction began to come true. Then in November of 2009 they released the next book in the series Aftershock to predict further erosion of the US economy based on fundamental underlying pattern. Then in 2011 the authors realized based on the feedback and further questions from the general public they felt compelled to follow-up on the Aftershock with a 2nd Edition .

A statement from the 2nd Edition is “Because our first two books were right now you can be right Too”.

The 2nd edition address why the first two books were so accurate and why further investigation and research assured them that while many people think and hope the economy will get better but the truth of the matter is that it won't. They further address two other major bubble that will ultimate pop and lead to further issues impacting our economies ability to recover. The other two bubble are the following:



  • The Dollar Bubble
  • Government Debt Bubble



The Aftershock 2nd Edition will help you to understand what is going to happen next...and what steps and actions you could and should take to minimize the impact on yourself and those you love. The important lesson I have learned from this book is that everything doesn't have to be a surprise if we first take time to learn from the experience and knowledge of others and secondly we take steps to do something productive with the information. How do you invest and protect yourself for the Aftershock that is expected between now 02013 and 2016.



Aftershock the 2nd Edition...Recovery? What recovery? Don't Get fooled Again?



Pick it up at your local library, it is a great read

1 comment:

  1. Hey! :)

    We just launched Schaumburg bookoo - it's a massive online yard sale for Schaumburg and surrounding areas.- Thousands of people buying and selling used stuff from each other, in a fun, family-friendly way! :)

    We're getting the word out to some local bloggers, and would like to send you a free bookoo t-shirt (no strings attached!). If you would like a free t-shirt, will you send me an email at kellin@bookoo.com with your address and shirt size? I'll get it out to you right away!

    Check out the website:

    http://schaumburg.bookoo.com/


    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete