Foreclosures Down-Turning Downtown USA

November 21st, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosures

Foreclosures are down-turning Downtown USA. Ahead is a stretched out weekend when millions will hop on to trains, planes and zoom across in cars to enjoy Thanksgiving with stuffed roast turkey oozing with cranberry sauce, bottles of apple cider, wine and you name it. Shops will open early on the day following Thanksgiving day for early shoppers. This is the beginning of the holiday season that spills over to the New Year. It is a steady indicator of the health of the economy.

But it need not be told afresh that uppermost on the minds of those mumbling prayers and exchanging gossip is the foreclosure crisis. Many have lost jobs; others are threatened while countless have lost their houses to foreclosures.

The credit card and loan culture symbolizes the market economy of America. But since the last two years the ground has been crumbling below them. The consumer who felt like a king with the credit card is now pale as a pauper with paper money. Stores are offering huge discounts to the tune of 75% on some goods but that has not brought back the smiles and stuffed shopping bags. There is fear stalking the country – fear generated from foreclosures. What happens to my neighbour today might happen to me tomorrow. In many ways it is worse than 9/11. The downturn is slowly but surely becoming a recession. Jobs and houses, income and shelter are disappearing.

The labour department reported recently that jobless numbers have risen to 516,000 – calculates to half a million families. None of them will be knock at the stores with shopping bags and smiles. The unemployment rate is 6.5% - this being the highest in the last fourteen years according to the Department of Labour.

Some may argue since 93.5% of the citizens do have jobs why should there be a cause for unnecessary worrying? But misery cannot be calculated in like manner. Unemployment never drops to 0%. If it is below 5% it is considered to be bearable. When claims made by the jobless reach 500,000 it can be said that the country is in recession. Ultimately recession too will come to an end but when the change will begin to take place Economic theory cannot predict for sure. It might get worse and take on the appearance of a depression. During the Great Depression (1929 – 1920) 20% of the people were sans jobs. Today however the situation is not quite that bad.