March 18, 2009...1:31 pm

Take risks? Not right now

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My copy of ‘Newsweek‘ magazine arrived in the mail Tuesday afternoon. Staring at me on the front cover was Uncle Sam with the headline “I Want You … To Start Spending.”

The Newsweek article, which you can find here, says in part:

As consumers hibernate and investors hoard cash, the economy is withering. This new age of thrift is understandable. But for a recovery to take hold, Americans will need to start taking risks again.

To which, I have to ask, taking risks with what?

The unemployment rate continues to climb, and I am one of those unfortunate folks who hasn’t been able to find a job. I haven’t worked since before Thanksgiving.

My investments, and my wife’s, are worth half of what they were a year ago.

Go to the grocery store, and you will notice that prices there are climbing.

I don’t have any extra money to spend. So again I ask ‘take risks with what?’ Certainly not the money I need to live on.

I would love to put vinyl siding on my house, replace the broken recliner I sit on every day, tile the bathroom floor, buy a new computer or do some interior painting in my home.

Just tell me where the money is going to come from, and I’ll be happy to spend it.

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