economic signs
2009-Jun-25, Thursday 10:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mellowtiggerI disagree with the methods used to calculate recession/depression. I can look around me and get a more accurate sense of what's happening before the pundits start talking about how their numbers indicate any particular condition.
I knew a few months ago that a local OfficeMax had shut down. I was early driving to work one day this month, though, and decided to stop off at a nearby Barnes & Noble at another mall a few blocks from the old OfficeMax. I got there and saw that the bookstore was gone too. I honestly don't know if anything is left in the main mall building other than Sears and Kohl's.
I went bicycling this morning and took my camera. I had previously noticed numerous Yang Ming and China Shipping cargo containers, but they have recently started leaving Minneapolis. I went for another survey today. The new "winners" (losers?) now are Hapag-Lloyd (German), K-Line (Japanese ("K" from Kawasaki)), and Hamburg Sud (German). I am pretty sure that there are fewer cargo containers sitting at the railyard now than a month ago, but it's still a much higher number than last year or the year before. I've noticed on the other side of the road a buildup of half-size containers rather than the fullsize ones pictured here.
More mixed (but still bad) news can be found in the residential areas of my Minneapolis north suburb. 1) The neighbor behind us appears to have had their house foreclosed. They were a nice hispanic family with a rambunctious dog. I noticed their absence because what used to be a garden in their back yard is now just a weed sanctuary. 2) A few blocks away, however, a new business is going into an older building. They're called "Albert's" apparently. I don't know what kind of business they will be. 3) Elsewhere on my ride, though, I passed 2 different "rent-to-own" signs on houses. Not as many outright sell or auction notices as a few months ago though.
So the economy is still bad. Not worsening like it used to be, but definitely not perking up at any noticeable pace either. That's not to say that things have bottomed out yet. It can still easily get worse here. State budget cuts may already result in bad snow road conditions a few months from now. Every part of government is trying to find a way to pass the buck along to somebody else right now, since the Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty (Republican, I must point out) declared our budget cuts by fiat (by refusing to sign the legislature's budget or call another session for them to craft another proposal).
I knew a few months ago that a local OfficeMax had shut down. I was early driving to work one day this month, though, and decided to stop off at a nearby Barnes & Noble at another mall a few blocks from the old OfficeMax. I got there and saw that the bookstore was gone too. I honestly don't know if anything is left in the main mall building other than Sears and Kohl's.I went bicycling this morning and took my camera. I had previously noticed numerous Yang Ming and China Shipping cargo containers, but they have recently started leaving Minneapolis. I went for another survey today. The new "winners" (losers?) now are Hapag-Lloyd (German), K-Line (Japanese ("K" from Kawasaki)), and Hamburg Sud (German). I am pretty sure that there are fewer cargo containers sitting at the railyard now than a month ago, but it's still a much higher number than last year or the year before. I've noticed on the other side of the road a buildup of half-size containers rather than the fullsize ones pictured here.
More mixed (but still bad) news can be found in the residential areas of my Minneapolis north suburb. 1) The neighbor behind us appears to have had their house foreclosed. They were a nice hispanic family with a rambunctious dog. I noticed their absence because what used to be a garden in their back yard is now just a weed sanctuary. 2) A few blocks away, however, a new business is going into an older building. They're called "Albert's" apparently. I don't know what kind of business they will be. 3) Elsewhere on my ride, though, I passed 2 different "rent-to-own" signs on houses. Not as many outright sell or auction notices as a few months ago though.So the economy is still bad. Not worsening like it used to be, but definitely not perking up at any noticeable pace either. That's not to say that things have bottomed out yet. It can still easily get worse here. State budget cuts may already result in bad snow road conditions a few months from now. Every part of government is trying to find a way to pass the buck along to somebody else right now, since the Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty (Republican, I must point out) declared our budget cuts by fiat (by refusing to sign the legislature's budget or call another session for them to craft another proposal).
no subject
Date: 2009-Jun-26, Friday 02:59 pm (UTC)http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/06/25/unallotment_homeless/