Why would a Think Tank meet at a coffee shop on Sundays, what might problems might they solve while everyone is in slow mode? Well, interestingly enough we did have such a Think Tank meeting and it was amazing the number of interesting subjects in our dialogues.
One gentleman who had a little squabble last week with the tax payer said; "I Want to Sell My Home to the Tax Assessor for What They Said it is Worth" Fat chance of that, but it led to a discussion of the problems with the current level of local government expenditures and the current property tax values, which most likely need a sharp reduction, due to the economic down turn in residential real estate the last couple of years.
Can local government cut back - will they? Or will it cause them to increase property taxes rates percentages once they lower the values to the current reality? Of course, the US is not the only country with internal economic issues.
Take China for instance.
Will Inflation Kill the Economy in China? Note that 2007 inflation figures for China might hit 5%, due to soaring food prices.
Much higher than originally thought and this was the second estimated hike, the first was 1.
8% increase to 4.
2% and not another .
8% is expected.
The Chinese Bank is busy doing the math and looking for a way to head the inflation issue off, and fixing the problem by mid-2008.
The Chinese are some smart folks, but are they smart enough to figure out a way to float their currency, curb inflation and keep their stock market on track? In the US we are having a bit of a problem with this issue.
Inflation, recession, housing, credit crunch and wobbly stock market all big issues, as retail sales, shipping figures and orders plunge.
We are smart enough in the US to solve our problems but will we? Meanwhile it seems that our problem with subject like math in the schools stems from issues at home too.
Parents really do not want their kids to be too brainy.
This is one reason why parents are not as concerned with math and science in our schools.
The "Brainy" people are often social outcastes and parents do not want their kids to be nerdy.
Perhaps we need to change our social focus on this issue? Many kids just want to grow up and start a band and make a million dollars that way? Want to Start a Successful Band - Do Not Forget Music is a Business.
To get a business degree these kids will need some math skills, do some business planning and understand a bit of economics too.
Luckily neuroscientists find that music early on in a child's development helps with the math part of the brain.
That is good news indeed, maybe folks will figure out the math and the interest prior to buying a home or real estate at the top of the market.
The USA Today and the Arizona Republic noted that the Housing Crash is now filtrating through the economy to many other sectors and hurting small businesses too.
Construction, real estate, small businesses and huge lay offs with Mortgage Lending Companies were cited.
In Florida Trends Magazine an expose on Fort Myers, FL was but an echo of the economic issues on the giant sandbar there.
If small businesses are taking in less and they employ 2/3rds of our population you can see the problem there.
Those without any money are attempting to copy the money down to $5.
00 bills.
The $5.
00 bill is now getting a make-over to prevent counterfeit bills, as apparently the changes with the $100, 50, 20 and 10 are working.
This does however meet some resistance in some industry sectors, like coin-operated laundry mats, car washes and self-checkout stations at some retailers.
No sense in going to war over the changes in currency, after all War Has Never Solved the Problems of Mankind; well, except for problems such as Slavery, Fascism, Nazism, Communism and things such as that.
That pretty much raps up the flow of our conversation at the coffee shop on Sunday, what did your think tank talk about? Maybe you should start a think tank yourself? Sincerely, Lance.