A New Year With Lots of Change
December 26th 2008 14:59
I am sad to see the holidays coming to an end. It’s a time to relax and spend time with families. On the other hand, when I look at my investment portfolio (ok it’s mostly retirement investments – I’m not rich by any means), I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. We all knew that this would be a terrible season for retailers. It’s hard to miss it since we hear about it in the news daily. However, now that the shopping season is at an end, we are poised to start the new year on the right track.
We have a new president coming into office in a few weeks. I’m not going to get into politics and talk about whether or not he will do well in the position. However, the fact that we have a new president elected, and soon to be inaugurated, in and of itself brings with it a positive influence on the economy. It may be short-lived, but around the end of January, we should start to see the stock market climb in response to the change.
How long this positive change will last and what kind of long-term effect really depends on the policies that are implemented soon after. I know most people don’t realize it, but implementing policies that will cost investors more will result in a prolonged depression. You see we need these people to invest their money in the economy. If they are afraid to because of tax penalties, then the stock market won’t improve. That causes a chain reaction that just means we will suffer longer. Yes, the higher taxes will go to a number of entitlement programs, but that won’t fix the problem.
Think of this like going to the doctor’s office. You often will list all of the symptoms you have and the doctor has to determine what could be causing those symptoms to really fix you. Too often, a doctor will just treat your symptoms though leaving you continuing to feel miserable or never really recovering. (We can’t all expect to be treated by Dr. House.> from the TV show.) The same is true about many entitlement programs. They treat the symptoms and don’t really solve our problems long-term. I’m not saying I have all of the answers, but I do believe we need think about the long-term effects of the decisions that will be made and start treating the actual disease. If you eliminate, or alleviate, the real problem, the symptoms start to dissipate on their own.
We have a new president coming into office in a few weeks. I’m not going to get into politics and talk about whether or not he will do well in the position. However, the fact that we have a new president elected, and soon to be inaugurated, in and of itself brings with it a positive influence on the economy. It may be short-lived, but around the end of January, we should start to see the stock market climb in response to the change.
How long this positive change will last and what kind of long-term effect really depends on the policies that are implemented soon after. I know most people don’t realize it, but implementing policies that will cost investors more will result in a prolonged depression. You see we need these people to invest their money in the economy. If they are afraid to because of tax penalties, then the stock market won’t improve. That causes a chain reaction that just means we will suffer longer. Yes, the higher taxes will go to a number of entitlement programs, but that won’t fix the problem.
Think of this like going to the doctor’s office. You often will list all of the symptoms you have and the doctor has to determine what could be causing those symptoms to really fix you. Too often, a doctor will just treat your symptoms though leaving you continuing to feel miserable or never really recovering. (We can’t all expect to be treated by Dr. House.> from the TV show.) The same is true about many entitlement programs. They treat the symptoms and don’t really solve our problems long-term. I’m not saying I have all of the answers, but I do believe we need think about the long-term effects of the decisions that will be made and start treating the actual disease. If you eliminate, or alleviate, the real problem, the symptoms start to dissipate on their own.
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Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Happy New Year!
Comment by Jen
Money Baffle