Is a Bad Economy Really Bad News?
The news is dominated by stories about how rising unemployment, layoffs, and falling markets are causing massive pain for millions of people. The media assumes that everyone is powerless to improve their situation, and that they are at the mercy of their employer and the economy.
I don’t know if that’s really the most constructive approach. Yes, we are affected by the economy, but how it affects us is our choice. We can find fear and despair in “bad” news, or we can find a way to make it work for us. Yes, it’s true that many businesses are disappearing because they cannot compete in this economy. But, it is also true that as competition is reduced, the strongest and best companies will flourish, regardless of the economic climate.
Case in point, my friend Steve at My Wife Quite Her Job. Steve and his wife launched their online store two years ago, and have seen great success and profits. For the first half of this year, when the economy was “bad”, their profits rose 72%, year over year. So that leads to an interesting question. Why is it that their store is doing great, and other businesses are going bankrupt?
is one of my favorite financial books of all time. It's an allegory about a guy who has a terrible job, and how he overcomes challenges to achieve his dreams.
