For God’s sake, don’t get behind on your taxes too!

when Japan’s economy hit the skids circa 1990, nobody thought it would last 15 or 16 years.

And China’s economy is built on the idea that Americans will continue to buy cool but really unnecessary stuff forever. Having lots of bitter umemployed young men loafing around without any chance for a wife, has, traditionally, made the Chinese Government a little nervous.

the announced interest cuts will do nothing as it was interest rate cuts Circa 2000 to head off the Dot.com recession that created the boom over the last 7 years.

A lot of the appearance of wealth has come with more dual incomes, longer hours and greater personal dept.

Having worked with China I think they will very soon be kicking ass, like they have for all but the last 200 years.

(Note that I didn’t actually recommend getting parts from Autozone.)

in all serious,

AZO, PBY were some of the best performing stocks during the last bear market 2000-2002.

“When the economy stumbles, you have to begin living within your means, or you’ll be forced to do so.”

uhhh, you should always live within your means.

Storminvormin, China’s one-child policy made official the practice that will undermine many western states such as Italy (birth rate down to 1.3 per woman). From a BBC report: “A gray wave is bearing down on China. And China’s one-child generation is all too aware of what awaits it two or three decades down the pike – the prospect of each only child caring for two aging parents and up to four grandparents.”
“You have the prospect of 400 million Chinese elders, age 60 and over, by 2040, 80 percent of whom do not have any formal retirement pension, either public or private, most of whom won’t have access to government-financed health care. They’re depending on the extended family, but the government told them not to have children, or not to have more than one – or, in some cases, two. So a humanitarian crisis of colossal proportions looms…”
“You have the prospect of 400 million Chinese elders, age 60 and over, by 2040, 80 percent of whom, do not have any formal retirement pension, either public or private, most of whom won’t have access to government-financed health care. They’re depending on the extended family, but the government told them not to have children, or not to have more than one – or, in some cases, two. So a humanitarian crisis of colossal proportions looms…”
“China’s demographic turning point comes in just 8 years. That’s when the working-age population stops growing. A few years later, it will start to decline, and the number of retirees will grow. Now there are six working people supporting every retired person in China. By 2040, there will be just two.”

A good time to snap up some stocks too, Sajeev.
(Or at least keep on dollar-cost-averaging in.)

Quasimondo, do you and your friends drive the same cars?

I sold a car for more than $8000…

In 2006 about two thirds of my vehicles were sold for more than $8000. At least a third were over 10k.

In 2007, it went from about 40% in the early part of the year…. to absolutely zero by the end of the year. Thanks in great part to the subprime crisis, I actually sold more cars during the last quarter of this year than at any other time. It’s not even my primary work but if this trend continues, any downturn at the auctions will be more than made up for at the retail end.

Hondas and Toyotas are pretty much finance fodder at this point Sajeev (too high at the sales), but a well maintained vehicle that’s less than $3500 is literally selling like there’s no tomorrow. I’m even getting people from Tennessee and Alabama buying such non-descript vehicles as Windstars and Escorts.

Oh, and before I forget, FINALLY I’m not the only one in my neck of the woods who appreciates a good small car. Thank you OPEC!

You were doing it all wrong. I buy an alternator from them and keep it. Then if a friend kills his alternator, I trade with him and then return his bad one for a good one.

In the last recession annual light vehicle sales fell a whopping … 1.3%.

Sooner we swallow our medicine and get on the other side of it, the better.

And, as everyone knows, middlemen never make any money whatsoever on the sale of the aforementioned tangible things.

Never mind, Sajeev already spoke to my question: More to the point, if there really is an increase in older cars on the road, their stock will go up.

Dean asks, “what is the root of a national economy if not the trading of tangible things?” Well, to an increasing degree, the trading of INtangible things. Wouldn’t you like to own Hollywood? Or Google? National wealth comes from an educated and productive citizenry and natural resources. In both respects the US is the envy of most nations.

Redbarchetta asks, “What major goods do we still produce here?” Quite a lot, actually, more than any other nation. And “If…the value added of the manufacturing sector is used to measure relative size, China will not outrank the United States until 2013. Furthermore, when output is measured using real (inflation-adjusted) “1997 US dollars,” then the manufacturing value added in China will not exceed that of the United States until after 2020.” By that time China will be in demographic crisis, and we won’t.

Purveyors of car parts might well profit, due to poeple holding on to their cars longer.

According to MSNBC, businesses that do well in a recession include:
Health care companies “because people get sick just as much in a recession (sometimes more) as they do when times are good;” Dry cleaners “you can’t dry clean your clothes at home;” Insurance companies “people still need to buy car insurance.” And “funeral home directors and accountants, can safely assume a recession won’t have much impact on death and taxes.” I’d add pawn shops and bankruptcy lawyers. (Maybe movie theaters and book stores, too, as folks look for an escape from reality?)

Some hobbies do well in difficult economic times as well, as people “hunker down” at home. When I worked for the non-profit American Radio Relay League (ARRL), that ham radio organization saw an uptick in activity during economic downturns.

Back to cars:
Would a bad economy present some opportunities to used-car dealerships?