Beech Tree News Network

Economics gives me a headache. Wikipedia described economics as “the social science that seeks to describe the factors which determine the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economics). Like many others, I’ve learned a little about economics. But, somehow, economic news can feel overwhelming.

First, The Spokesman-Review ran an article (http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2014/jul/23/expert-forecasts-recession-...) by Associated Press writer Bernard Condon about David Levy of the Levy Forecast, an economic newsletter. Levy, his father and his grandfather have been successful at recognizing economic indicators. In this 2014 article, the author reported Levy saying that the U.S. could fall into a recession in 2015 triggered by downturns in other countries. He further indicated that a U.S. recession would adversely affect the housing recovery and cause investors to dump stocks and turn to U.S. Treasury notes. Interestingly, several countries around the world have struggled economically in recent months.

Then, an August 31st Daily News article (“Kentucky has the highest rate of homeless students in nation,” 3A) stated that during the 2012-2013 school year, our state reported nearly 5% of our students as homeless. This number was down slightly (The high occurred in 2011-2012.), but was still greater than that of surrounding states, excluding West Virginia and Missouri. The U.S. Department of Education’s definition of a homeless child is one who lives in a shelter, a motel or campground, a car, outside or with another family member due to loss of housing or economic hardship. During the 2014-2015 school year, Butler County identified 32 students as homeless, slightly less than 1.5% of the student population. This percentage is too high.

And, finally, a Washington Post news article, “Government shutdown likely at the end of September” (http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polcHP), explained that since Congress is behind in passing the spending bills needed to pass a full budget, a short-term budget extension to keep the government open is likely. Otherwise, we may once again witness a government shutdown October 1. Somehow, I am not surprised.

Economic factors have consequences. Adam Davidson stated, “Economics is all about consumption. People either spend money now or they use financial instruments - like bonds, stocks and savings accounts - so they can spend more later.” Thomas Sowell commented, “The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics” (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/economics.html#rCWlvtKVLoh1OE...).  Yet, 1 John 2:15 (NIV) cautions, “Do not love the world or anything in the world….”  Perhaps John’s advice is the remedy for dealing with any economic forecast.