JohnAdamsUncensored
I am John Adams and you have entered my Blog. I decided to start blogging from the grave due to the preponderance of mistruths and inaccuracies that have spread across the people by virtue of biographical books and television series. It appears that a host of lecherous pundits and writers have jumped on the John Adams bandwagon. Even in the grave, these hangers-on are annoying and aggravating. So, good people, I have decided to enter the Blogesphere, as i believe it is called, not to correct the inaccuracies of what has been written about me, but to comment on what is happening now. My goal is to answer the question: "what would John Adams say about that?" I trust a colonial perspective, steeped in common sense and patriotism, will prove interesting and helpful to those living now. Your comments and responses are welcome, however, please remeber that i am dead and will not be able to respond to all items immediately or ever or while you are on the other side.
What would I say about a Recession?
There has been a plethora of speculation concerning the prospect of a Recession. The press has characterized a Recession as JAWS lurking in the water ready to strike the vulnerable swimmer. Recessions don’t strike, they are labeled after the fact based on definitions prescribed by economists i.e. 2 quarters of no economic growth. The term Recession is similar to the term “Hot”- both are relative and ephemeral. Some thought Martha Washington was hot. I was not among them.
Rather than debating whether we are in a Recession, why not debate whether we are building a healthy base for our economy ? Focusing on the “Big R” is counter-productive. It tricks us into short term fixes such as flooding the market with freshly printed money and bailing out idiots that have over-spent or under-saved. The United States is fixated with “making the quarter” and not suffering from slow growth. Slow growth is not suffering. Being shot or fighting cancer is suffering. Slow growth is OK if you adapt your spending and restrain from junk debt and leveraged buy-outs. Back when I lived we saved and spent only what we had to spend to live. The current practice in America is live to spend.
The main issue is being undermined by the short term facination with Recession. Why not call it “Respiration” instead where the economy takes a breath. The main issue is not the dreaded slow growth. The issue is how we will compete in the World Economy over the next decade and beyond. How we will stop the Euro from turning the Dollar into a Quarter. Or, how we will stop Asia from overtaking us as the most powerful economy in the world. These are not quick fixes and they are not driven by Recession. The Recession is the Bogey Man. The polititians and press love to use the Bogey man to scare the People and manipulate the Public opinion. Forget the “R” word and let’s focus on the “F” word- the Future.
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