I just turned 40 last December. So I feel I have some perspective to speak about history, at least in my lifetime, and what is going on in our country now.
I am constantly amazed that we as a nation repeat the same mistakes over and over again and then act stunned when we have a meltdown like we are currently experiencing. And of course the media and pundits act like it's the first time something like this has ever happened. Let me retrace some of the boom and busts that have just occured in my 40 years of life in the U.S. of A (and notice the 7-8 year cyclical pattern of these moments):
2007-08 - Housing crises, financial meltdown. Greed got a hold of us once again, people bought, bought, bought, thinking there would be no end to the good times;
2000-01 - Dot com bust. Greed again. "Investors" bought everything with a dot com attached to it no matter how hair brained the idea was. Does anyone but me remember the predictions of a Dow at 35,000 by the year 2005? Or everyone quitting their day jobs to become "day traders"? Ah yes, those were the days;
1994 - Asian currency crisis. Was supposed to bring down the whole global economy. But just like SARS and Avian Flu Virus it didn't pack quite the punch everyone had anticipated;
1988-89 - The S&L crisis. Our situation today makes this whole mess look like child's play. Oh how I wish we had a problem that small right now;
1980-82 - Iran hostage crisis sent oil prices through the roof. Coupled with "stagflation" our economy went into a deep recession with interest rates in the high teens and inflation and unemployment hovering around 10%. Kind of makes every recession since look kind of wimpy.
1974-75 - OPEC oil embargo again sends oil prices through the roof. 74-75 Bear market on Wall St. one of worst in recorded history. Makes everyone wonder if we'll ever regain our footing.
1967 - I was born.
My point is, we've had crises before, we'll have them again. Unless, people learn from their mistakes. But as exemplified by my timeline above, I wonder if we will.
For information about Anthem, Phoenix, or Scottsdale real estate visit our website at:
Comments (7)Subscribe to CommentsComment