How bad is the economy is your area?

BAD.

Here in Vegas it is getting really bad. High end hotels now have rooms from $80 or so during the week. Casinos are laying of dealers, and so on. High priced escorts are even running specials on Craigslist. We rank among the highest in home forclosure. The community where I live is considered one of the top 5 communities in Nevada and there are multimillion dollar homes abandoned with dead grass outside so guess what that means? Tourism is among the first things people cut back on. This town is going to be hit real hard and only get worse.

I know when relatives visit from Europe they have a ball buying things up to take home because the dollar is so cheap to them. Of course, they don't care for visiting America---too much blubber for one thing among many. But, if the price is right and if they remember that their purchasing power is muscular a visit would seem to be an excellent deal. Besides looking down their long noses at Americans must have some real value.

It seems like America should be flooded with "wealthy" tourists from Europe and Japan and even South America. Here in Miami, I haven't seen any evidence that foreigners with money have any interest in taking advantage of the weak dollar. Perhaps President Bush who extols all the wonderful benefits of a cheap dollar could work harder at making it more like the Mexican Peso. We need those tourists and if slashing the value of the dollar by 95% is what it takes so be it; can never have enough inflation as President Bush knows.

Houston:

Everywhere you look, there are help wanted signs. Where I work, we are having trouble with drawing people in. We have half a dozen slots open.

In the clubs-last month, the last time I was in a club, the girls were reluctant to offer extras. I had to really push to get anywhere. They weren't desperate for my cash.

hope everyone read lotsoffun's take on the Vegas economy. I'm going there in a few weeks because I got such a good room deal. I'm hoping there will be more and better looking dancers who will be eager to please, knowing that the poor economy limits their other job opportunities...

I've lived in Central Ohio for 2 years now and other than the slow housing market, have not noticed much of a change in the economy. The Franklin Co. unemployment rate is 5.7%, a touch high but by no means off the chart (Franklin Co. is home to Ohio State and the state capitol). Food prices are up. Walmart supercenter has good prices, but even those are rising a bit.

Why would "help wanted" signs indicate that the economy is going poorly? I'd say that this would indicate that the economy is going well, because they would suggest that work is continuing, that demand is high, and that the employer is intending to increase his payroll, thus reducing unemployment and increasing the amount of product or service which he is selling.

Houston should be BOOMING!!! High oil prices should equal "help wanted" signs in that area of the country.

I agree, if businesses are having help wanted signs in the window that usually means people are working and the labor pool is short. If the economy is so bad, which I do not believe it is, why would people not be out looking for work. I am in the restaurant business and business is going well. I do see less people leaving the job than I used to and I think it is because people are keeping their jobs because there are less of them out there right now.

Can someone define for me what the economy is? As I said, I am in the restaurant business and it is going well. I am sure other sectors of the economy are going well. On the flip side, parts of the economy are not doing as well. I think the gas price/oil price bubble has impacted people spending more on luxury things. No question about that.

I think this is a cycle we are going through right now. I think with all cycles people have to adjust and be more competitive. It does not make sense to me that in a strip club that the girls would be offering less "extras" when the economy is slower. If anything they should be upping the ante a bit. I mean, offering less in a club is not going to put more money in their pocket. So if that is what happening, they are poor business people.

As for Vegas, I was just there 2 weeks ago. Went to 2 shows. They charge an arm and a leg for them. One show was 90% full the other had to be close to full if not full. Went to eat a few times and had to wait a long time. In fact one place was was busy, we left and went somewhere else cause the wait was over an hour to get in. I was there mid-week so I am sure the hotel was not packed, but I could not get a view of the strip from my hotel cause all those rooms were full. And when I left on a Friday, there were 8 to 10 lines 7 to 8 people deep waiting to check in. So it did not appear that Vegas was hurting too badly. Now, I did not gamble once at all and not because I cannot afford to, but because the odds sort of suck. I would rather spend my money on a show that stick in a slot machine or blow it a table. Vegas got my money no matter which way you look at it.

As far as cheap hotel rates in Vegas being offered that is a crock. During the Summer and during the week is not their busiest time of year. Maybe some deals are being offered then. Come Friday, rates go up and ya get screwed over from the hotels.

Changing gears here for a sec. Housing market. It sucks right now. Can you say greed. No one was complaining when the housing market in a lot of areas were rapidly rising. Houses double and triple in their value in a very short time. What goes up fast will come down even faster. Sorry for the folks who got caught at the top. Banks were giving loans left and right to people who were beyond their means. IN fact banks helped contribute to this housing problem. My opinion is the banking system is corrupt and unregulated. And in the end, when the banks fail, you, me and others are who get screwed. My opinion is we need banking reform in this country. Get the crooks out of it.

That is my take on things.

Right now the economy by me is awful. Yes I do live in a area where our bread and butter is tourists. And both me and my husbands specialized fields are in the hospitality industry which hasnt lost its momentum. But with the price of gasoline tourists are few and far between. Those in this town who dont work in hospitalty are struggling alot??

Here in cali everything is falling down the crapper too. Housing foreclosures here are some of the worst in the nation. No jobs, tourism is suffering, and the damn film industry (big source of revenue)is always on some sort of strike or other. And add an earthquake to the mix! At least construction repairs will keep that industry busy for awhile. I'm also watching my budget much more closely these days. I decided that if things got really bad, I would rather stay home from the clubs than go & sit there and not tip or get any dances. What would be the point? I'd be miserable & the girls would hate it. Let's hope it doesn't happen (knock wood).

I see these things as novel experiences: the housing situation, in which participation in uncoverable loans have cost a large number of people their homes and mortgages; the gasoline situation, in which prices per gallon have gone up a lot lately, and that seems to influence the costs of just about everything else; the "certification" situation, in which most employers in certain fields can no longer hire the best person for the job, but instead must hire some idiot who happens to have the right piece of paper.

But does that mean "the economy is bad" or not? I see a lot of people buying that expensive gasoline and driving around, and plenty of tourists are here in New Orleans drinking and eating and listening to jazz. Tourism isn't really down, in fact, overall, despite airfare prices increasing thanks mostly to gas. We see CHANGES and we see a reduction in certain DISCRETIONARY spending and the politicians (both sides!) start hollering about how "bad" the economy is, but actually these changes could be GOOD. They reduce dependence on foreign oil, or increase likelihood of longer-term investing and saving, or ... I dunno ... lots of other things possible. Just because we can't afford our daily $5 Starbucks any more, doesn't mean we're going to grind to a Soviet-style work-stoppage halt and nobody's going to have lettuce or pumpernickel bread on the shelves.

Regarding Vegas......The reason lines were long is that rooms are so cheap now they are depending on the gambling dollar. Shows will never go down in price since they have to pay the performers for their contract. The machines are squeezed so tight right now it is nearly impossible to win anything. Most of the restaraunt lines are filled since they are giving away the meals or deeply discounting them.

Did you notice the construction.....nearly at a halt. A relative of mine is in the construction biz as an exec and is getting ready to get laid off. City Center (a multibillion dollar project) will short open meaning only part of it will open. Some of the high rise condos have gone bankrupt and will never be finished. Those who gave deposits lost them and those that are finished are having trouble selling them since nobody can get their mortgages.

I'm in medicine and you want to know how many people have cancelled elective procedures for fear of taking time off.

All is not what it appears.....

"machines are squeezed so tight" ... no ... chances of winning or losing have not changed, and number of players or number of dollars played in a given time frame has no bearing on the random chance of the next play being successful.

Lotsoffun201...sorry to say but you are nuts. The rooms were not cheap at all. Not sure where you are getting your info from, but I did not find any cheap rooms. Even 5 star hotels are not taking Priceline bids of $170 a night. If anything they are just as expensive as usual. I am seeing quite the opposite as in less deals being given.

As far as shows go, my point was not that they are expensive cause they are, but that they were close to full and no deals being made.

Machines being squeezed tight eh. Hello, how do you think they pay for all that darn places. The odds are not in our favor. Got any evidence to support them being squeezed tight.

Where are these discounted meals you are talking about. I ate at the Rio and Bellagio and got no such discount. If anything, the prices were the highest I have seen them.

I did notice the construction. How can you miss it in Vegas. People seem to be working on all the construction sites I saw.

I cannot argue about what might be happening in the medical field. However it is a well known fact that medical insurance is super insanely high priced and so are medical services. I think our entire medical system needs a revamping from top to bottom. We simply pay too much for it all. Maybe you guys in the medical field ought to try some discounting to bring in customers. Buy one Colonoscopy get a second one for free.

According to the numbers, our economy grew 1.9%. Now that is not all that exciting, but it is still growth. I am not saying there are not real things out there impacting our economy. There certainly are. Gas prices and food prices are huge impacts. One of the major gas companies just reports earnings. Record profits was the headline. Companies are making money out there.

My view is people need to get creative. About a month ago, a local HVAC vendor was going door to door offering a $50 special to come and change filters and inspect the heating/cooling system. Brilliant idea. I would bet that their business increased a lot. Cheap price to come and service my HVAC unit. I even set him for another appointment in 3 months. I applaud that sort of competitive spirit. On the flip side, I had an HVAC vendor who services my businesses. He changed his payment due date from 30 days to being due in 10 days. Mind you we averaged 14 days when paying him before he changed his policy. I asked him if he was gonna hold to that due in 10 days. He said he would not budge. I said ok I will find another vendor. He lost a customer that he had been doing business with for 20 years. Pretty foolish if you ask me.

You say all is not what it appears and I say all is not what the mainstream media or alternative conspiracy theory media feel they need to tell us.

I am in South Carolina and I do not believe the economy is bad. Though what is happening here is probably similar to the rest of the country, the cost of gasoline is causing people to reflect on how they spend their money. Disposable income for entertainment would be the first thing people cut back on and that certainly affects money spent in men's clubs. Further us married guys don't typically tell our wives about the hundreds of dollars spent in this fashion, so in times like this we spend less or not at all.

Orebell

Love to do the buy one get one free thing, but it's illegal, sorry!

As far as info....I have a friend who owns a few bars and got hit real hard recently and had to change the chipsets, which by the way is VERY easy to do. A change from a 98% payback to a 90% payback makes a huge difference.

I have a friend who came to Vegas for vacation got a deal for 3 people with a rental car and airfare with a room at Planet Hollywood for $1000 last week.

As far as info...read the papers locally

lvrj.com

As the stingiest, penny-pinching tightwad in a financially conservative (by necessity)family of skinflints, my SC and recreational rendevous have nosedived. Never did see the bang for buck in strip joints (thirty dollar lappers for 2 1/2 minutes-GMAFB!)-so many of these activities are for horny masochists with money to burn-and historically I've only been the first half of that. When you start adding it all up now-gas, tolls, booze, the insatiable dollar crazy trolls masquerading as dancers, driving while buzzed, the same empty result after the same thousand futile forays-hell I'll stick with Letterman and cyber-sex. At least until She Who Must Be Obeyed gives me my next get-out-of-jail card!

I think the whole, "Omigoood the economy is so BAAAD" whining is election-year twaddle. Both Democrats and Republicans benefit from complaining about the economy. What's changing is gasoline prices at the pump, and a few other major-impact visible news stories. But the economy as a whole isn't actually ruining anyone's life in a general sense ... yet ...

"According to the numbers, our economy grew 1.9%. Now that is not all that exciting, but it is still growth."

Yea, and the revised numbers from the fourth quarter of 2007 show a GDP "growth" of -0.1719%. The number that you cite will be revised down as well, just like the last few quarters. Our national economy is limping along at best.

economagic.com

bea.gov

"Companies are making money out there."

At who's expense?? The northeast U.S. is not doing so well these days for sure...

bea.gov

bea.gov

And, of course those numbers like the inflation numbers should be believed. :)

I believe our GDP would have been negative if not for exports. Now that the rest of the global economy is starting to slow down, those exports should start decreasing which will only make things worse here. Besides if everything were rosy, McCain would stand a much better chance of getting elected. I've noticed a bias in the major media evening news. CBS seems to be bias in favor of the democrats. They often seem to start the news talking about how bad things are in our economy. Another network only mentions economic news later and makes it seem less important.

We're heading towards a financial crisis but it may be another year or two before it becomes more evident for everyone. I'm not even sure what California is going to do with their massive multi billion dollar budget deficits and whole towns that are pretty much bankrupt. At a minimum I wouldn't be surprised if they were on the verge of being bankrupt with so many homes dropping in price and people not paying taxes. The optimists out there might think this is a good time to buy. Sometimes prices of things can take decades to return back to where it used to be. Real estate is one of those things but not all local markets are the same.

I don't know if whole towns are bankrupt, I believe I just read a comment online stating something like that may be possible or getting close to it.

In my area not too bad. Some housing prices are down, but that's probably a good thing. Gas and some foods are more expensive, but there are still a lot of help wanted signs and nobody seems to mind sitting in rush hour traffic burning $4/gallon gas. But then I live in the Washington DC area. This is the one area whose major industry, government, is absolutely recession proof. If the economy is good the revenues roll in and the government expands because they are flush with cash (nevermind that pesky debt). If times are bad, well then the government must expand to provide services to all those people hurt by the weak economy. Permanent growth, regardless of the economy. They really have it worked out.

I pretty much agree with AN. I am in the Atlanta area. Yes the price of gas pisses me off and as a result prices on every thing have to go up. I personally am not hurting. I have not had to change my life style. Mixed results on the housing market. My next door neighbor and close friend is a home builder. Usually builds and sells 20-30 houses a year. This year. Only 4 so far. A co worker spent the last year building a retirement home in AL. He put his house up for sale here and it sold within 2 weeks. Another retired friend in FL saw his home devalued from 300K to 200K in the last year. I continue to get bombarded with mail offering me credit cards and refinancing on my home. I just trash them.

Shadowcat, if you get tired of getting credit card offers in the mail, you can call up the opt out phone number and have your name taken off the mailing list so you don't get about 99 percent of credit card offers anymore. I remember I spent over an hour or two shredding nothing but credit card offers one day before I decided to stop it. Works great. You can always call up a credit card company and apply for another credit card if you want to, opting out just helps eliminate most of the junk mail. Just throwing credit card offers away without shredding them increases your risk of identity theft.

I was going to say, no homes for sale in my neighborhood anymore. Apparently I'm in a prime spot to save on gas and to downsize from the big mcmansions out in the suburbs. My neighborhood has smaller energy efficient houses. I did beat someone out when I bought my house by only a few minutes. That was several years ago though. Gas here has dropped to $3.59, I can now tip an extra 2 bucks in the strip clubs and be out the same amount of cash.