I started this blog in June 2007 asking these questions: Are we in a massive asset bubble that will blow up in our faces ??? - ANSWERED YES ! Is western and particularly British society on the verge of social collapse??? What are the best common sense long term investment strategies to keep you rich? When will consumption/debt bubble economics end and a real savings/production economy begin ???

Friday 14 December 2007

Fears grow of a UK manufacturing recession

Fears are growing that Britain's manufacturing sector could be sliding back into recession after a gloomy survey from the CBI.

The business group reported a sharp slowdown in orders in December, driven by a weakening of domestic demand, and found that expectations of growth have taken a hit.

Paul Dales, of Capital Economics, said that the survey was "the first to signal the possibility of a manufacturing recession". A recession in any sector is usually defined as two consecutive quarters of falling output.

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Sub-prime debacle is not the big story

What has been this year’s most important economic and financial story? Most people seem to agree that it has been the global credit crunch and the US housing crisis. However, in fact, this has been a sideshow compared with the far more important shift in the structure of global growth in favour of America, largely at the expense of Europe, including Britain. This shift was confirmed by the remarkably strong US GDP figures published last Thursday and is likely to trigger a substantial rebound in the dollar – just when cover stories in business magazines around the world are announcing the American currency’s permanent decline.

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Financial Worry, Health, and the Reverse Wealth Effect As Housing Pops

It's been said that the difference between childhood and adulthood is financial worry. Children are of course troubled by family insecurity, but the gnawing weight of financial distress really eats away at the responsible adult(s).

As you have probably surmised, I know because I've been under extreme financial duress all too many times. (That goes with being self-employed in cyclical industries.) But financial worry can also arise from "death by a thousand cuts"-- small reductions in income and small cumulative increases in expenses which slowly work to bring household balance sheets into worrisomely negative territory.

The greatest source of stress is the loss of a loved one, followed closely by combat, divorce, the loss of one's job/livelihood/home/business, serious injury/illness and moving, i.e. "pulling up stakes and starting over." Unfortunately, the last three are intertwined with financial losses and worry.

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