Even A Decade Long Recession Will Be Okay
Friday, October 24, 2008 15:56It’s hard to ignore the similarities of our current crisis with Japan’s financial crisis which began in 1990. Boom of the housing market and excess lending feeding off each other leading to a housing bubble. Once popped, stock market prices were dragged lower and what’s left was banks with unmanageable debts from a lack of lending standards. Then the economy went with it and what followed was 10 years of no growth in Japan’s economy.
I remember last year when my friend from Japan who told me that his house is finally worth what it was when he bought it 20 years ago! It sure is scary to think about the possibility of this happening in the United States.
Then I thought about my friend, who were actually retiring last year. In 1990 (when the crisis happened), he was a mid level manager working hard in the corporate world. When the crisis hit and headlines of doomsday were appearing everywhere, I’m sure he was worried much like we are right now. Unfortunately for him (and many other people), the unthinkable (at the time) and the worst situation happened, causing Japan’s growth to grind to a halt. Having lived through one of the worst economic eras of Japan’s history and 18 years later, my friend retired as the President in one of Toshiba’s medical division. He has two daughters and lives comfortably in a beautiful part of Japan.
He came out of his national crisis great and here are a few reasons why:
He Didn’t Throw Up the White Towel
Many people gave up during that time and none of them came out better than my friend. While he lost money on paper like everybody else, he stuck by his strong work ethics and came out of the crisis financially much stronger than he went in.
He Didn’t Sell His House and Stocks
Unlike many of his friends, he did not sell his house nor his stocks. As he worked hard and accumulated more money, he put his money into more investments like saving accounts and stocks. While these alone didn’t make him rich, it certainly didn’t make him poor either.
He Didn’t Panic and Be Unproductive
I keep saying this and I will say it again. I see so many people these days spending time worrying about their finances and not being productive. Stop worrying because business is as usual! Stay positive and work hard because good times will come again!
While it’s difficult for anyone to predict the future, we can take comfort in knowing that people still prosper in bad times! Don’t give up, don’t panic and stop worrying! That’s what my friend did.
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ceparker says:
October 28th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
I am so glad to hear the positive and not dwell on the negative of this time in our nation. Some in my family are actually doing better than they were a year ago. Every time something goes down, something else goes up. The nay sayers seem to get all the publicity and it reminds me of the Chicken Little story, “the sky is falling”. Perspective. If we tell ourselves enough that things are bad, they will be. Just like you said, “Don’t give up, don’t panic and stop worrying.” What goes up must come down and what is down will go up is very true only most people only see it falling.
What better place to be than in the land of opportunity. Capitalistic United States of America with opportunity waiting just around the corner. We will be okay!