President Obama is about to sign us all into a debt so huge, we may never again remember days of fiscal responsibility. I’m not saying that the government has been fiscally responsible as of late, just that now, the budget is so deep in the red that it will take huge amounts of taxes to ever come back. And, this bill has so much in the way of handouts that it will perpetuate the entitlement mentality that has essentially ruined our economy. We, the people of the US need to stop looking around for other people to blame such as government entities and start looking at our past indulgence. We spend, spend, spend so freely, without restraint and finally, the rampant consumerism topples and we find ourselves in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. So what medicine does the government dish out? Let’s get everybody back into their old spending habits by giving them more assistance. A bandaid for a huge gaping wound. Sure, the stimulus will have some positive effect but it is short-term and simply provides a way for the US population to be even more dependent on the government. I see it more as our freedom being stymied as the soft chains of socialism are wrapped all the more tightly around us.

So, in our current situation, is it better to be optimistic with economic forecasts or to be realistic (what some people would call pessimistic in today’s economic climate)? Does either one have the potential to lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy? Meaning, if people continue to be pessimistic in their forecasts, will that cause additional cutbacks and restraint, thus deepening the recession? Or, if more forecasters are optimistic, will that lead more people to breathe a sigh of relief and begin thinking about expanding their purchases again, thus lifting the economy? What are your thoughts? I can tell you I am choosing to be optimistic and believe that articles like this one are for real.

In case you haven’t heard, scrap markets have essentially come to a standstill. While that shouldn’t be news to most of us, what may be is the latest forecast for recovery.  Steel mills have and continue to cut their production significantly which in turn reduces their need for scrap. This spiral downward continues to push back the expected date of reaching the bottom in scrap prices. Now, there is talk of no turn around in production levels until at least second quarter of 2009.

While this may seem to be all doom and gloom, there is a bright spot in the picture. Those companies that have prepared themselves for these times, are going to come out of it even stronger with much of the competition disappearing as cash flow comes to a screeching halt.