Before we get into the events of the week I would just like to mention the sad passing of Gary Speed who took his own life and left a wife and two boys behind. Whatever it was that made him feel this way must have been terrible given the route he took to escape it. I am not a religious person but it would be good for us all to remember the man and think about how precious life is.
Gary Speed RIP
I would generally like to follow the above with something positive; however, I have just been listening to the news and frankly we are staring the second recession in the face and, listening to the politicians, we still don't appear to have learnt much from the first one. The position across the whole of Europe is precarious at best and catastrophic at worst and, with another 400,000 job loses predicted over the next 12 months, this is now the worst recession ever. Unfortunately the way we are structured means we have very few ways out - in fact, whatever is decided on as a way forward will carry a massive downside with it.
One thing that is almost guaranteed is that we will have to recapitalise the banks yet again and mark my words, that will be an economic disaster in itself. So what can we do about it? Well, I have already started my small holding from where I will be breeding chickens, pigs and other live stock that can be used for bartering. In some ways it will be quite healthy to pop along with a few hundred eggs and some pigs that can be swapped for my new eco-friendly car! The reality is that we are fast approaching that situation and although I am talking in the extreme there are signs that we are already looking for alternative ways of paying for things by using commodities rather than cash. There also seems to be an explosion of asset based lenders such as Borro, who are market leaders and excellent at the job. However, I have also noticed that there are lots of smaller clones of this model popping up, and today I received a business plan from a company looking to set up payment kiosks in shopping centres where our assets can be turned into credits to be spent within that centre. There is a lot more to it but the concept seems pretty good, if not a little open to abuse. I would be interested in other people’s views on this.
I was sorry to miss the annual NACFB bash last week, as I doubled booked myself and had to attend the Green Awards, which was mind numbing as an event and only made better by my hosts, who were very nice and enjoyed a drink as well. I won't, however, make the same mistake again! A school boy error on this occasion, me thinks, so sorry Adam, let’s hope we can catch up again soon.
Finally - and eight have said this before - there are still opportunities out there, it is just a matter of working 10 times harder for half the money, so things aren't that bad, are they?
Have an interesting week
Regards
Terry
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