The economy is starting to weigh on everything. I see it up close and personal. A lot of people are out of work and liquidating assets to survive. They just can't buy a new guitar right now - not even a cheap one. Who's economic plan is going to get more people back in the store? I find I don't really care.

The U.S. is just like a huge corporation, only bigger. We're inefficient at producing goods. Quality is pathetic, and we demand big bucks for our labor. Transforming to a service economy probably wasn't a good idea in retrospect because nobody wants all these expensive services. As far as goods go, Asia is eating our lunch. We can't compete. Well, not unless we re-price the cost of labor to more closely match the rest of the world. And therein lies the rub. We can put a lot of people back to work only if they work for a lot less money so we can sell our stuff for a lot less money. Otherwise, there aren't any buyers. That could be a messy correction...