Upcoming recession - How will this affect us?

I've taken an interest in the global financial situation since last year and I've learned a lot along the way. No one really knows how this is going to pan out at this stage. There are a lot of opinions and a lot of them are misleading, either because of vested interests or plain old stupidity.

There are arguments all over the net about wheather we are heading for heavy inflation - due to the billions being poured into the global system to easy liquidity - or for heavy deflation, due to the huge levels of debt destruction brought about by the US sub-prime mortgage crisis. Both arguments are persuasive.

This is not to say that it will be impossible or even that much harder to make money over the next few years, it will just take some repositioning and some careful moves. There is in fact a hell of a lot to be made in falling markets but the rules are subtly different.

As for the rise in food and oil prices, these are commodities and whilst there are clear supply and demand issues, a lot of these price rises have been brought about by speculation. Most seasoned economists (of which I am not one, but I read as far and wide as I can) are of the opinion that commodities are subject to a dangerous speculative bubble at the moment as people are exiting the housing market and domestic equities in search of money making opportunities.

In my personal opinion, we are heading for a period of crippling inflation / stagflation, the effects of which are already being felt. This could go on for years until things readjust. In this situation, the money you hold in cash will become worth less and less. The traditional safe haven in an inflationary period is the big G (yellow, heavy and shiny) but this is arguably also subject to a price bubble at the moment having trebled in price over the last few years.

Direct Marketers Alarmed by Recession

Self fulfilling prophecies coupled with ignorance coupled with fear = recession.

I hate it when people are surveyed about recessions, its almost always useless and serves the media fear mongering - if it bleeds it leads.

Ok, there will be more resistance and tightened budgets...that just means you need to work smarter..not nec. harder. Learn new skills...increase your closing percentage by 10% by reading ...trying new things...

Recessions are always ways to trim the hedges and improve efficiency.

Carla Hendra, co-CEO of Ogilvy North America, said the economic climate coupled  with the fragmentation of media has created an "interesting and dynamic time" for  the business.

"It's almost an all-bets-are-off kind of moment where you have to reinvent  yourself," Ms. Hendra said. "We don't have a business anymore where we make a  marketing plan for the year. We're making them every day, and that's had  fundamental implications for how we staff and how we get compensated."

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"Economic climate and fragmentation"? "all bets are off kind of moment to reinvent yourself"????

When is she going to leverage synergies and incorporate win win situations so they can arrive at ball park solutions with out of the box team players?

Sounds like corporate speak to me...sounds like if she said nothing, we would have obtained the same amount of information ...