The National Bureau of Economic Research is the entity that officially dates the beginning and end of U.S. recessions. It announced today that what has become known as the Great Recession ended in June, 2009. It began in December, 2007, making this the longest and deepest economic slowdown since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
I post this simply as an item of reference. Anyone using the Open Forum to research the history of expediting and how expediting was affected by the Great Recession will find this thread along with several others in which expediters discussed the recession before, during and after it went on.
At present, we are in a period of economic growth but it is slow growth. The optimists project more slow growth. The pessimists say the economy is growing at close to stall speed and may turn downward soon to begin another recession. No one is projecting strong economic growth in the near future.
It has been quite a ride. We saw many expediters and expedite carriers leave the business. We saw housing prices crash. We saw the stock market crash such that it wiped out many people's retirement nest eggs. We saw the national debt skyrocket. We saw major expedited freight customers, including automobile companies, cut way back or go under altogether. We saw unemployment rise. We saw truck shows shrink in size and attendance. We saw truck sales shrink too. We saw used truck prices decline sharply, putting many owner-operators upside down in their truck loans. We saw a number of too-big-to fail banks and wall street firms fail. We saw credit dry up.
We also saw a number of expediters make it through in good shape with some even prospering in difficult times; a remarkable achievement given the storm they had to navigate.
I post this simply as an item of reference. Anyone using the Open Forum to research the history of expediting and how expediting was affected by the Great Recession will find this thread along with several others in which expediters discussed the recession before, during and after it went on.
At present, we are in a period of economic growth but it is slow growth. The optimists project more slow growth. The pessimists say the economy is growing at close to stall speed and may turn downward soon to begin another recession. No one is projecting strong economic growth in the near future.
It has been quite a ride. We saw many expediters and expedite carriers leave the business. We saw housing prices crash. We saw the stock market crash such that it wiped out many people's retirement nest eggs. We saw the national debt skyrocket. We saw major expedited freight customers, including automobile companies, cut way back or go under altogether. We saw unemployment rise. We saw truck shows shrink in size and attendance. We saw truck sales shrink too. We saw used truck prices decline sharply, putting many owner-operators upside down in their truck loans. We saw a number of too-big-to fail banks and wall street firms fail. We saw credit dry up.
We also saw a number of expediters make it through in good shape with some even prospering in difficult times; a remarkable achievement given the storm they had to navigate.
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