A close friend of yours truly who is an entertainer — in fact, the person who convinced me to do a weblog — believes the U.S. is in for much tougher and troublesome economic times ahead. And he points to several things:
- TRUCKS SEEMINGLY GONE ON SOME MAJOR ROUTES: He drives long distances constantly to musical gigs, often in a vintage car. He will often drive this car at 45 or 50 mph on these major routes late at night, and is constantly being passed by trucks. But in recent months he has noted a shift: he can drive a whole night and only be passed by two trucks. There are now far fewer of them on the road moving commerce on the usually truck-heavy routes he drives in the Midwest.
- A SURPRISING CONVENTION: At a recent convention for an industry that offers a certain kind of entertainment/family event, there was a major shift this year: people selling entertainment and other services to these events had few people stopping in their rooms. This was across the board. People who were normally slammed for business but who left with little or nothing included an LA agent and a popular hypnotist. Will they book later? Perhaps. But it’s uncharacteristic for this particular event and the major drop in business was noted virtually across the board.
- PEOPLE SHOWING LESS DISPOSABLE INCOME: A major balloon artist who works big events also works restaurants locally. Normally he’d do a restaurant and end up with $75 in tips for a night. In recent months, doing the same act that alway generates laughter, smiles and happy kids and parents, he’s lucky to walk away with $10.
This person points to the lingering impacts of 9/11 as well as the catastrophic hurricanes and notes extensive Chinese and Arab investments in the United States, plus the failures of several administrations to be totally candid on ominous economic trends and rumblings.
Is he correct? Time will tell…but Yours Truly was at the same convention and he’s right-on-the-dime about that.
This is being written at the Denver Airport en route back to San Diego.