From the Editor’s Desk
Questioning our Fiscal Future
Business has taken a blow to the gut. Happy days are not here yet, nor are they likely to come with any fresh bailout or new President just around the corner. So while we at Biz4NJ cannot realistically whistle that old hopeful Depression tune in this current dark, we also refuse to drone on with the equally unrealistic “Brother Can You Spare a Dime.”
While too many media voices seek only to point fingers and fuel the despair, Biz4NJ will continue to offer reassurance in the form of specific, practical solutions. Note our timely features: “Yes, New Jersey, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, (this latest cover story;) Business Belt Tightening - How Garden State Businesses can Survive the Current Crunch (previous cover story;) and several features on how to deal with bankers and venturists in the “Finding Capital” section.
Of course, we cannot bury our heads in Jersey’s own snow white sand. There exist larger economic turns which every thoughtful business citizen must be considering. So rather than give you, our readers, this editor’s personal preachments, I am hoping to spark your thoughts by asking a series of questions that have been plaguing me ever since this economic domino-downfall began this summer. I invite all Biz4NJ readers and friends to reply. We look forward to publishing your thoughts and concerns - and to sharing them with others of our Garden State.
* Helping Hands. Why is it we, in this culture, consider it an anathema to give money to those who need it the most, and a vital necessity to give it to those who have the most?
* Government Regulation. Is the very best first step in regulating market-swaying hedge funds achieved by humbly asking them how they would like to be regulated, then writing their suggestions into a voluntary code of conduct, and calling the job done?
* Mortgages. Which of the Goldlilocks solutions represents the best government course of action?
a) The government to give rescue funds to the mortgage holding firms. (Far right idea.)
b) The government to buy up and forgive all individual unproductive mortgages. (Far left idea.)
c) Actually having the economists earn their salaries and draft a new, reinvented loan program that will re-scale the loans into a viable repayment program for precarious homeowners. (Novel idea.)
* Where did the money go? Every individual and business claims to have less cash than they did a few months ago. Who has that old money now? Was there a fire in the U.S. Treasury?
* Fear Itself? If there still is a lot of money out there, could it be that everybody is holding back less because of any present crisis, but because we fear we are poised on the edge of some vast future financial abyss?
* Who Jump Starts? If our economy has fallen down, why must it be Joe the Consumer’s responsibility to get things going? Why are all the media and pundits naming poor, wage-earning Joe as the slacker, who is greedily hugging his own few dollars when major economic institutions so desperately require them?
Help me please. I am apparently quite confused and desperately need some answers. Your advice would be appreciated.
- Bart Jackson
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