The Random Comic Strip

The Random Comic Strip

Words to live by...

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and to rest afterward."

[Spanish Proverb]

Ius luxuriae publice datum est

(The right to looseness has been officially given)

"Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders," wrote Ludwig von Mises, "no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interest, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle."

Apparently, the crossword puzzle that disappeared from the blog, came back.


Monday, November 5, 2012

Disasters beget misery and debt


I came across this article on the CNNMoney website yesterday morning while sipping coffee and contemplating turning the clocks back. Turning the clocks back means I have to get the little step ladder from the garage, climb up a couple of steps, reset the time, and then spend 5 or more minutes trying to fit the clock back on the nail in the wall... the nail that will become flush with the wall at the slightest touch...

Why can't these wall clocks I pay all of $7-$12 for automatically adjust for seasonal time changes? I often contemplate ignoring them and just let them be wrong for 6 months each year.

Where was I? I am sure I had some other complaint or rant in mind when I started... Oh yeah, the article on the CNNMoney website...

The title is quite accurate: Sandy's small business victims: We don't want loans!

A small business is often, if not always, a "dance with the devil" in terms of cash flow. You borrow money to establish and equip it and then use your proceeds to pay on the loan(s), pay your employees, and operating expenses with whatever is left over for yourself. Sometimes there is nothing left over.

The past 4 years has been tough and small businesses have been struggling to stay afloat, often taking on more debt just to keep going. Yet more loans won't help, they just mean more debt. As bad as the pictures of the devastation have been, we are just beginning to see the long term impact of this storm. 


I don't have answers to the problems, just questions and a little trepidation about the next couple of years.

1 comment:

Kathy said...

Unfortunately, it seems many small businesses haven't been making profits to pay the loans, the employees, themselves. They borrow to get the company started and then borrow more to keep it running.
More loans will mean more bankruptcy. It really is adding insult to injury.