Episode-38- A Wake Up Call – The U.S. Economy is in Real Trouble
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Today’s podcast covers some truly concerning new economic indicators in the Dallas – Fort Worth Market. Keep in mind that compared to most of the U.S. the Dallas economy is “booming” fueled by the Oil & Gas, Technology and Financial Industries. Tune in today to hear my thoughts about..
- A surplus of 5 years worth of ready to go residential lots and what that means to the economy
- How the real estate bust is slamming into other industries like the Title Industry
- How banks are building less new branches despite the very low cost of commercial construction right now
- The stated and REAL reason many banks are ‘getting out of the student loan business’
- The harsh reality every business must face when revenue and business declines
- What the decisions of banks tell us about what’s coming next
- Our responsibility for the clowns in government running our country today
- The declining work ethic of the American worker
- How everyone is actually “self employed”
- The impact of our migration to a “service based economy”
- Why you really need to prepare for hard times NOW
- How we let our government officials keep their jobs with a 9% approval rating
- Why storing food, saving money and protecting your wealth is a hell of a lot more important right now then “main battle rifle” or a “survival knife”
- Thoughts on how Americans could use the economy as a weapon in a “bloodless by not painless revolution” (just a sneak peak more to come on this later)
Remember to suggest topics and ask questions. Be sure as well to enter our listener appreciation contest and win an iPod Nano or other cool prize.
I enjoyed this podcast, however, my friends gave up on your podcast after listening to this post. They said the sound quality is “unacceptable”. Just thought you’d want to know.
Well Jeff, Thanks for telling me but at this point the audio is what the audio is. I am using a noise canceling head set and I podcast from a moving car. At this point anyone that finds the “audio unacceptable” is free to not listen.
This ain’t music, I don’t know exactly what people expect from an audio podcast.
I agree my first few shows had a TON of noise in them but now with the headset I think the sound is pretty good. I hope you and most others continue to listen.
I think today’s show sounded more like 8 kbps, and it sounded reverberated. I think more recent previous shows sound more like 16 kbps, which I believe they are. Not to complain, just an observation.
Scott,
No it isn’t 8 kbps but listening to it after publishing I hear what you are saying. I think it MIGHT be that I reduced the input volume of the audio when I generated the final show. Some of the other shows have seemed a bit “harsh” due to the volume of my big mouth.
I think that was the mistake and I think today’s show may sound the same. This afternoon I am going to regenerate those two shows and see if that is the difference.
Jack
Hi Jack –
The work that is being outsourced to India today involves skills which are commodities. This is stuff like maintenance of existing software and work that doesn’t demand high quality or high value. I’m not too concerned over tomorrow, for the reasons below. But if Americans sit back and become complacent, they will catch up with us in about 8-10 years.
One of the things that people don’t take into account are the cultural differences between the US and India. Indians are intensely hierarchical in nature — they’re taught it from birth, being part of their education system as well as in their religions. In Indian society, unless you are supervising someone, you have a much lower standing. As a result, a new programmer just starting work is extremely interested in getting promoted to a managerial position. A direct effect of this is they have very little interest in becoming better programmers. Ultimately this means that for American firms outsourcing work to India, they’re always dealing with fresh college graduates who are clueless about how good software gets made.
The law of supply and demand is working to balance things out. A good software developer in India makes ‘doctor money’ — that is, an income equivalent to what a physician would make. And this salary is increasing for them due to the fresh demand for talent. With the current weak dollar and higher salaries amongst Indian developers, it’s starting to get where there’s maybe a 20% savings gained by outsourcing. And for some US companies, that’s not enough savings to offset the timezone challenges, the communications difficulties, and the loss of control over projects. As well as the costs of the re-work needed of poorly written code.
Having personally seen some of the astoundingly bad software that comes out of India, I’m now starting to market myself as someone who can clean up failed outsourcing projects.
What can Americans do? My short list:
– Always be learning
– Move to where the value to the business is
– Be flexible
– If you specialize, know that you’re explicitly doing it, and not that the market is leaving you behind
– Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst
Thanks for the podcast, hope you get the audio difficulties straightened out.
To add to the list above:
-Always be updating your skill set to encompass new technologies/techniques that come out
The audio quality was troublesome, reminded me of the first few shows where you did not have the lapel mike. I’m sure you’ll get that corrected. Good show!