Global Economic Roundup

[El Presidente]

The Global Financial crisis commenced Oct 2008 (from memory) although the US entered recession in 2007.

Trillions in global bailouts and stimulus packages later and I am trying to get a gauge on how things are in your town/city/state.

We have been fortunate in Australia to date but it is a two speed economy (at least). Those involved in mining resources are booming. Some 60% of our resources industry is exported to China who appears to have an insatiable appetite. Unemployment is below 5% however cost of living has gone through the roof (food, utilities, petrol). The A$ is the best performing currency in the past year which is also hurting our non mining export industries and in part has led to the collapse of our tourism industry.

All in all a mixed bag. A winners and Losers economy with increasing interest rates used as a blunt tool to slow down the mining boom (employs 3% of Australia but some 10% of GDP). The interest rate increases cripple the retail and housing sectors.

Prediction: Tough times ahead for the average Joe in Oz. We have survived the GFC well on the back of China but there are some serious cracks appearing in the non mining sectors.

[Scdalak]

Judgeing by how quicky your Humidor specials sell out, I would say the Global Economy has improved greatly.

[anacostiakat]

That about sums it up.

[Colt45]

Over the past month or so the company I work for has laid off twenty people (me not one of them).

That gurgling sound is the patient on life support. Last rites not yet given, but the fat lady is getting

ready to begin warm-ups.

At least summer is coming and I live close to the beach

[IcedCanuck]

IMO things are going very well in Canada and now that we have a stable government for the next four years it should continue to improve. The city I live in was not eve affected by the recession at all mainly because it's a government city with a lot of tech to boot. The housing market never slowed down here either. I know some people who live in Oshawa where several car manufacturing plants closed down and there are still a lot of people out of work. From what I have been hearing and reading on various news sources leads me to believe we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[archosaur]

Laid off 2009 in Southern California. Started own business later that year. Competition is stiff, work scarce, and fees low. Making ~30% of salary of 3 years ago. Commercial real estate sector.

[brutusthebuckeye]

Competition is stiff, work scarce, and fees low.

Same for me!!!!

That should be a bumper sticker for most small buisness owners...

[Fuzz]

In my line of work, the GFC has had a marginal impact. No matter how good or bad the economy is, people need to eat. Supermarkets will always have customers. And with the spate of cooking shows (Masterchef, My Kitchen Rules, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, Hell's Kitchen, etc) more people are coming into the supermarket to experiment with new recipes. I may not like reality tv, but those cooking shows are bloody good for business!!

Of course, that is not to say that we haven't had our share of cut backs. Travel has been restricted, with more tele/vid conferencing being utilised, and some minor projects have been put on hold indefinitely. Staff levels have increased as we try to balance casual staff costs against overtime for full timers.

With my family biz, importing is a helluva lot cheaper, but we can't increase our margins. As the dollar climbs ever higher, customers want our prices to drop. For those in the importing biz, you know the difficulties in telling a customer that products bought and paid for 3 months ago at a higher price can't be cheaper just because the exchange rate is better now. And let's not even start talking about fuel levies or the wharfies!

[El Presidente]

In my line of work, the GFC has had a marginal impact. No matter how good or bad the economy is, people need to eat. Supermarkets will always have customers. And with the spate of cooking shows (Masterchef, My Kitchen Rules, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, Hell's Kitchen, etc) more people are coming into the supermarket to experiment with new recipes. I may not like reality tv, but those cooking shows are bloody good for business!!

Of course, that is not to say that we haven't had our share of cut backs. Travel has been restricted, with more tele/vid conferencing being utilised, and some minor projects have been put on hold indefinitely. Staff levels have increased as we try to balance casual staff costs against overtime for full timers.

With my family biz, importing is a helluva lot cheaper, but we can't increase our margins. As the dollar climbs ever higher, customers want our prices to drop. For those in the importing biz, you know the difficulties in telling a customer that products bought and paid for 3 months ago at a higher price can't be cheaper just because the exchange rate is better now. And let's not even start talking about fuel levies or the wharfies!

On the plus side....it must be nice to run the family business from your other job

[Fuzz]

On the plus side....it must be nice to run the family business from your other job

Oh yeah, it's great. I don't get two paychecks, I get to unload a 40' container this weekend, and most of my vacations from my paid job go to working on the family biz.

Then again, I did get a fairly new Saab 9-3 Aero at a ridiculously cheap price (only paid what the vehicle was worth on the company books) and I get some free travel to Malaysia every so often for "business". Now if I can just weasel in on the trip to Cambodia later this year...

[Ryan]

Where do I start. It's looking like Ireland's F$cked. I can't see any other route other than to default on the debt. It's not going to be pretty. In order to have a chance at borrowing anything ever again, the budget will have to be balanced meaning enormous spending cuts, tax increases and pay cuts of 30%-40% for every civil and public servant.

As for me personally, my company shut down with all of us out of work on Feb 14th when our largest customer decided they weren't going to pay us. Court case ongoing. It wasn't so bad, I was going to Cuba on the 17th.

It was a shame though, it was a nice little company with most of us there an average of 8-10 years.

I'm in the middle of a 3 month contract with some London travel and a new job starting in June, software hasn't been hit as badly here as most other sectors.

People are pulling money out of Irish banks to the point that bank staff hand out brochures trying to explain that deposits are safe. I'm looking at a euro account in Gibraltar.

So it's not looking too good here but it an odd way, this kind of utter financial mess seems to suit the Irish psyche quite well. As a nation we don't know what to do with money so we're probably better off without having too much of it.

If things get too bad, we can always move.

[bolivr]

Where do I start. It's looking like Ireland's F$cked. I can't see any other route other than to default on the debt. It's not going to be pretty. In order to have a chance at borrowing anything ever again, the budget will have to be balanced meaning enormous spending cuts, tax increases and pay cuts of 30%-40% for every civil and public servant.

As for me personally, my company shut down with all of us out of work on Feb 14th when our largest customer decided they weren't going to pay us. Court case ongoing. It wasn't so bad, I was going to Cuba on the 17th.

It was a shame though, it was a nice little company with most of us there an average of 8-10 years.

I'm in the middle of a 3 month contract with some London travel and a new job starting in June, software hasn't been hit as badly here as most other sectors.

People are pulling money out of Irish banks to the point that bank staff hand out brochures trying to explain that deposits are safe. I'm looking at a euro account in Gibraltar.

So it's not looking too good here but it an odd way, this kind of utter financial mess seems to suit the Irish psyche quite well. As a nation we don't know what to do with money so we're probably better off without having too much of it.

If things get too bad, we can always move.

Actually noticing more Irish folks about here in Victoria. Not sure if they are new arrivals due to the economic conditions back home as it would be a big call to move half way around the world. On the other hand history shows it as a regular thing over the centuries.

Definitely a patchy economy here in southern Aus. My own area of automotive has been skinny for years of course but there are still plenty of people doing well in other industries. Western Australia is a completely different world, how does a federal government work out policy effective for all? I fear there is a 'correction' looming on the residential real estate front which will kick a lot of people in the nuts.

[Rogers72]

It's a tough call here in my neck of the woods. The building and construction industry was hit HARD here but some have been getting by on large gov't funded projects (roads, schools, etc.). Things may be on a bit of an upswing in the home buying/selling biz but I feel that it is short lived. Interest Rates on mortgages have crept up a bit and I think we will have another "correction" or two in the market in the coming months. They tell us that unemployment is down slightly but I'm not seeing it in my dealings (mostly construction and manufacturing). Overall, I have an even dimmer view than I did two years ago.

I have taken action in my situation. My career has been so stagnant for the past four years that I have decided to make a move. I am going back to my original plan and will be enrolling in Law School in the fall. With a mortgage and two kids (one in private school), I am quitting my job of nearly 10 years. I'm only 31 so I've got plenty of time left in the workforce but the next three years will be tough but i think it will be a good time to drop off the economic grid for a bit!

[Puros Y Vino]

Things in Toronto haven't been bad. Our Canadian banks are notoriously conservative and helped us avoid the disaster/idiocy that other banks delved into. They follow a basic tenet. If you can't afford the loan, you won't get the loan. You can only get a loan that you can afford. The job market is good. There were a couple of months where things lulled and then picked up tenfold. I get the impression that employers are looking for people currently employed rather than go into the pool of the unemployed. I don't have any data, so take that with a grain of salt. It's just a "feeling". People seem to be spending. Our trendiest parts of town seem to busy. Restaurants seem to do well. Our club and bar district always does well. You can tell by listening to the activity on the police scanners. The biggest indicator is our housing market. Prices keep going up, more condos are being built throughout the city, people are buying into neighbourhoods rather than homes. For instance, along my street there a lot of small bungaloes that are maybe 1200+ sq ft that are going for insane prices. Once purchased they're torn down to make room for 3000+ sq ft "mansions". Toronto is Canada's financial centre so you're going to see extreme examples of wealth. But it seems that a lot of folks are doing well for the most part.

[fbiguy]

Things are starting to hit harder here in Dallas/Ft. Worth. The first few years didn't seem to bother us here all that badly, and I still think things are much more mild than most places. But I work in Education, and it's getting hit hard lately, mostly due to State financial shortcomings. We have lost 7% of our workforce, 630 people or so, and none of those who were let go of were teachers. Other cities in the area haven't been so lucky.

There is a lot of tech in the area, which is what field I am in, and I think it helped insulate us a bit as well. And while I don't make all that much considering my skillset, I have been able to slightly improve my lifestyle during the last few years.

[dicko]

In Perth, West Oz we have prima facie come out of the GFC without too many scratches.

In reality though, we have a massive "two-speed economy". As Rob said in the OP, people in jobs related to resources and those who haven't.

Prices and cost of living always seem to be on the rise. A steak at a garden variety restaurant in Perth is $35-40 (im not joking).

Uni grads:

I'm final year university doing law. Grad prospects look a lot better than last year and the year before but less than half the graduating class will get a job at a law firm.

Most will get jobs elsewhere though at other white collar firms or government. Places seem to be keener to hire now than 2008-09-10.

Alot of these law jobs will be servicing the resources industry. ALL my mates who graduated from engineering school make 90-100k straight out of uni. Again, most work for mining companies.

It's a pretty upside down world when my Mum, an 30 yr veteran and awarded primary school teacher makes 20-30k less than a 1st year engineer grad or a fresh tradesman on the mines.

Tradies:

My bro is a plumber, just finished his apprenticeship. makes a steady income nothing too big (would double or triple if he went on mines). always has work.

My best mate is a ceiling-fixer. has good months and bad. gets by alright though. Construction seems to be a bit stop-start in Perth atm.

Overall, most tradies are doing pretty well. If they didn;t extend their debt during the boom buying SS utes and jet-ski's that is

[dicko]

I have taken action in my situation. My career has been so stagnant for the past four years that I have decided to make a move. I am going back to my original plan and will be enrolling in Law School in the fall. With a mortgage and two kids (one in private school), I am quitting my job of nearly 10 years. I'm only 31 so I've got plenty of time left in the workforce but the next three years will be tough but i think it will be a good time to drop off the economic grid for a bit!

I have have 3 friends who have made that same decision as you the last couple of years, and have similar circumstances, age etc. 2 did it for better job prospects/money and 1 did it for interest/challenge. All 3 have done pretty well for themselves but they have all found it bloody hard. All 3 were lucky too in that they had good support, one has a wife who works, no kids. One is a rich girl who lives at home. One works part time in a good government job. Go in with a war-chest of funds and proper time for study.

I realise you have weighed up the pro's and con's but law school is long and tough, and the rewards at the end (atleast in the short term) just aren't there. I'm no expert btw Im just saying because my mates were in a similar space. Hope it goes well!

[sloth]

I'm not sure about the global, country, state, or even the local levels. But that the most very personal level I have been in a depression for 12 years!