Black Friday 2009

With the economy being what it is, and the fear of losing one’s job, I have a feeling black Friday is going to be just that but for the retailers, not the consumers.  People have been living on edge for too long now waiting for the economy to turn around, but each month as the new economic report comes out there is a new problem for the consumer to worry about. Either gas prices are rising; more companies are laying off workers, or just simply closing shop and going out of business.

It would be surprising to read in the newspaper that retailers were achieving the sales they are hoping for as consumers are afraid to spend with the forecast for tomorrow being questionable.  The government reports a drop in food prices, and in the next breath they say gas prices are on the rise, well any conscious consumer knows that food prices are soon going to follow.  Or they say the stock market is on the rebound so things are looking up, then they report a rise in the number of unemployed workers.  There just does not appear to be a silver lining in the gray clouds of the economy.

Something else that one has to wonder about is all the new money the government is dumping into the economy, they may be able to print it, but can they back it up with collateral?  If the answer is no then it is not worth the paper it is printed on.  It’s like this if a consumer goes in to refinance their house, it always helps if they have a house to refinance; if not, well….

So retailers if you are going to have a sale make it a good one, or people are going to keep what little bit of money they have, in their bank accounts, and consumers buy smart because all of those credit card bills are going to start coming in with higher payments after Christmas.  It leads one to think that maybe someone out there is trying to tell us something.  Maybe feeding our kids is more important than buying them the newest Nintendo WII game. 

Don’t worry about tomorrow unless you have a bank account the size of Donald Trump, it’s not smart to think the gravy train is not going to run out because somewhere it has to end.  Maybe charity does need to begin at home especially if you have money enough to feed half the country for a year, God said, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”.  (James 1:27, ESV)