What do you think will happen...

[CraZx2ing]

... to the economy after the election this year. Will gas prices magically tumble, and consumer confidence pick up? Has the past year+ all just been a joke for the upcoming president to "fix" the day he gets into office?

Thoughts...?

[SoCalZX2]

I highly doubt gas prices will magically tumble... and I doubt that whoever the next president is will actually fix anything.

Everything will even itself out (save for gas IMO) in time. The housing markets will become stable at some point. Some are even supposedly looking up now (I'm not really a believer that they're already turning around, but they could be I guess).

I'm sure consumer confidence will pick back up after the "evil" man is out of office, and whoever the next President is (as long as it's obama lol) will be hailed as the savior of the people.

Problem is the economy won't fix itself. The government (no matter which party) needs to spend less, and the people need to stop living beyond their means. It's no fluke that 25% of Americans have a negative net worth... Thats not the governments fault, thats people with poor money habits.

I'm no economist, but people need to take control of their personal finances and the government needs to be forced into doing a better job for us (since they're supposed to be elected by us to help us... not control us and give handouts while taxing people into oblivion).

[slammmed]

Problem is the economy won't fix itself. The government (no matter which party) needs to spend less, and the people need to stop living beyond their means. It's no fluke that 25% of Americans have a negative net worth... Thats not the governments fault, thats people with poor money habits.


ahh but it IS the governments fault to a certain extent. We live in a society where if you can't deal with a problem yourself the government will help you.


I'm no economist, but people need to take control of their personal finances and the government needs to be forced into doing a better job for us (since they're supposed to be elected by us to help us... not control us and give handouts while taxing people into oblivion).

you're right, the government needs to invest more into personal growth as opposed to just giving people money, food, etc..

but the bottom line is the government needs to curb spending, reinvest in the US economy and everything will work itself out.

[SoCalZX2]

I agree whole heartedly (and you even have it in the post you quoted) that the Government needs to spend less... and in that I believe people might take note and do the same....

While we live in a society where people think the Government will fix their issues... it is NOT the governments fault that 25% of the country has a negative net worth. That responsibility is solely on the shoulders of those Americans who can't say no to themselves when they see something they want.

[Beodude123]

That's a cultural problem of people living beyond their means. Everybody is supposed to have the "American Dream" type of life, and most just can't afford it. Credit is so ridiculously easy to get now, that people can get into some stupid high debt, and then they can't pay any of it off.

[LunchBoxZX2]

I think the only real way we're going to see gas prices tumble is if Congress agrees to open up offshore drilling and we stop competing with countries like China who subsidize oil and who have the extra money to spend on stockpiling foreign oil. Even then, it's going to take time and effort and prices may continue to rise in the mean time. The government seems to be more concerned with a few animals than they are with having a domestic energy policy... don't fool yourselves, we don't have one.

If it were my guess, consumer confidence will pick back up when the housing market picks up and when banks figure out the mortgage crisis they dragged half the country into.

I do agree with SoCal... the blame for the reason things are half as bad as they are lies squarely on us. People need to be better with their money. The government also needs to quit giving handouts and figure out a real way to balance the economy that doesn't involve throwing money to anyone who wants it, including other countries.

I honestly do not see things picking back up just because there is a new President in office... especially if that President is a Democrat. It may improve short-term, but I think it would be a false sense of security and would wear off once people finally realize that in reality, none of the candidates that are up for election are really qualified to run the country.

I think we are in for a rude awakening to some of the problems that probably won't see a good long-term solution. The government and the people of this country need to start finding ways to avoid mistakes rather than spending valuable time and resources finding short-term solutions to their problems.

In the end... things tend to work themselves out, but I don't believe any of it will magically get better.

[koihoshi]

It may improve short-term, but I think it would be a false sense of security and would wear off once people finally realize that in reality, none of the candidates that are up for election are really qualified to run the country.

We're long overdue for a historical presidential candidate. I don't think that's happening this year. Lets leave that to the politics section of the board though.

It'll be interesting, however, to see what kind of changes happen with the market due to this year's candidate.

[2000ZxT]

I don't think the next president is going to be able to do to much ( if anything ) about gas prices.

The president has less power than one would think, the vice president is way overlooked in terms of his power.

Dick Cheney has been behind the scenes for WAY too long. It will take a decade or two to filter out his effects.

I personally think China is going to make spaceships and invade us via space before that happens though.

[Buster]

... to the economy after the election this year. Will gas prices magically tumble, and consumer confidence pick up? Has the past year+ all just been a joke for the upcoming president to "fix" the day he gets into office?

Thoughts...?

The only way gas prices will magically tumble is if the Democrats that keep making it illegal for us to drill and use our own oil would magically get a clue and vote the right way.

[PHeller]

Have you been reading anything? Energy experts on both sides of the party lines agree; domestic oil production will make at most a 10 cent decrease in oil prices, and still take 5 years until we get to those types of changes.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2008/06/24/mccain-the-audacity-of-nope.aspx