Recession: Fact or Fiction?

"The recession is coming, the recession is coming!"

You've heard the cries haven't you? Well we've got news for you...it's already here. Or at least that's what the media would have you believe. Whether it is technically true or not is irrelevant. The facts show that it's still a great time to be in business and to make money-one of the best environments in our history, to be exact.

According to the Consumer Research Center, American households have more discretionary income than ever before, which continues to fuel consumer spending at a steady, if not accelerated pace. In November 2007 retailers posted their biggest gains in six months and both retail and wholesale 2007 revenues were up verses 2006. Even last year's holiday shopping season was big in both numbers of shoppers and in gains despite what we have been led to believe.

If you listen to the media there are signs of shaky times in some sectors, lead by the housing bubble "burst" and the sub-prime mortgage "meltdown." Those names weren't designed to create fear and uncertainty were they? Nahh...couldn't be.

If you watch the evening news these days it's easy to believe we're currently in a recession. Officially, a recession is defined by two consecutive quarters of declining GDP. In actuality we haven't experienced the first of the required two quarters yet.

If you look for something hard enough you'll always find evidence of its existence. You could find signs of an alien landing strip in a corn field, if you check enough places, and you could divine the winner of the 2008 presidential election from some wet tea leaves, if the lighting were just right. If you go looking for economic trouble, you will always find evidence of it. The point is, profitable sectors ebb and flow and prosperous markets shift, just as matter changes shape but never disappears. It doesn't mean catastrophic financial disaster is upon us. Does it?

Enter politics and government. Government involvement in business is almost always a bad thing and this situation proves no different. If you study history at all, you will see that economic uncertainty is good for the political process, especially if the party line is calling for "change" and offering a "new hope." How much more hope do we need than the most prosperous period in our economic history? But if the country feels a little economic pressure, tastes uncertainty and smells fear that's good for elections and it just so happens to be an election year. How convenient.  But who has the power to plant and nurture seeds of uncertainty in the first place? The media.

The truly terrifying part is that the media is so powerful and influential they can actually create-in reality-whatever they dream up and proliferate. Shrouded in foreshadow they influence public opinion and action with factual distortions, skewed figures and fuzzy math until their "predictions" become actual events. In this case, we really may see a recession.

This is just one reason why the rise of new media, such as blogs, is so important-so that all sides of the story get air time.

So for those who are feeling a bit of the conjured pressure and need some help weathering the storm, take heart, you can achieve entrepreneurial success during slow times. As a matter of fact, if you know how to navigate slow times properly you can do more than merely survive, you can thrive, dominate and prosper. Even more good news for the entrepreneur: you are in the best position to thrive during slow times because most corporate business people probably won't have the capacity to adapt before the whole "recession" blows over. Slow to see, slow to act.