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Showing posts from April, 2014

Welcome to the New Economy!

We have been trying to figure out the economic trends in the US and worldwide for a few years now, and it is still a mystery.  The gurus say that we are in recovery, slow as it might be.  They say the US is doing better than many other countries, especially in Europe.  They say the BRICS countries are staggering a bit, not booming as they were for years. All the patter sounds like a clunker.  It just does not sound right.  So what can wee figure out for ourselves? We know that the jewelry business is very much the canary in the coal mine.  When things are not well, jewelry is one of the first to feel the cold wind.  And when the economy is recovering, it is one of the last to feel the warmth of the sun.  We have seen this in recent years.  By mid-year 2007, many retailers were sensing that there was something amiss.  That was an understatement.  Neither retailers nor suppliers have recovered, by a good measure, to where they were in 2006, once we adjust for inflation and prices fo