Factoring Blog - For Small Businesses

Yes, everyone agrees, “it’s the economy.” 

In the news:

• Businesses Tightening Their Belts - The Washington Post (03/02/08) writes that businesses large and small and reacting to recent financial news by cutting back, although not nearly as drastically as in 2001.

• Small Firms Are Cautious About Recession - U.S. News & World Report (03/10/08) reports that businesses are becoming more cautious as a result of recent Fed rate cuts.

• Preparing Your Small Business for a Recession - U.S. News & World Report (03/07/08) quotes Jim Blasingame, noting that fear is our worst enemy in a recession.

As the saying goes, it’s the economy, stupid. 

But the question is, what should be done about it?

I think you should be a realist and optimist at the same time. As an article in smart Money points out, not everything is bad news with the economy.  February’s numbers were actually more positive than January 2008.

And, I recommend you to learn from the history and read Lawrence W. Reed’s article, The Times That Tried Men’s Economic Souls, pointing out that in the early years of the United States the financial situation was not the brightest.

During times like these, our first reaction is to want to get the government to do something — anything, we think.  

But perhaps there’s another solution to the problem – to take the government out of the situation and allow businesses to do their business unimpeded.  For more on this stance, read Yaron Brook’s commentary, To Stimulate The Economy, Liberate It.

Are stimulus packages good, or should the government just back off and let businesses work their way out of the current circumstances?  What say you? 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 at 3:44 pm and is filed under Economic News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.