cutglassdecanter

A recent USNews article listed eight industries that will sit out the next economic recovery.  Let’s see if we can find a common link.  How about conspicuous consumption?

• Airlines - the sharpest blow comes from the decline in high-revenue business travel.  Have you noticed more videoconferencing at your company?  I have.
• Hotels and cruise lines - as more people take staycations and businesses go to videoconferencing, hotel vacancies have grown.  Cruises cater to leisure travelers, and theme parks have taken a hit also.
• Casinos - “gambling usually rises and falls with consumer spending, but this time, analysts aren’t so sure that shell shocked consumers will return to the casinos once their incomes improve.”  Unless you’re addicted, this is one of the first luxuries to go.
• Automotive - government bailouts have kept in place excess capacity that will keep profits low.  Hmm.  Do I smell socialism?
• Media - the internet has hurt television, magazines and newspapers.  I don’t even get a newspaper delivered anymore.  Do you?
• Real estate and construction - with the down housing market, there’s no relief in sight.  Retail vacancies have slowed the demand for new construction.
• Metals - because of the downturn in automobile manufacturing and construction, there’s less demand for metals such as steel, rebar, aluminum and copper.
• Retail - rising unemployment and loss of wealth due to the housing bust have severely impacted department stores.  Specialty stores are the next to feel the pain.  The only beneficiaries?  Low-margin discounters like Wal-Mart, supermarkets, and drugstores.

Many of these are industries that cater to “wants” instead of “needs”.  Many are victims of the current economic downturn, but a few are their own worst enemies, such as automobile companies that built gas-guzzling SUVs while gasoline prices were soaring, or antiquated industries such as newspapers, who have been losing ground to the internet in recent years. People will just have to line their birdcages or wrap their fish with printed versions of my blog posts.

I’ll cry no tears for the hotel industry.  I’m still pissed that they stuck an 18% gratuity on every food item that I bought at the Atlantis.  I mean, a tip for the snack bar guy to hand me a hot dog?  I have to put in unpaid overtime! I’m waiting on the forthcoming travel deals.  Can there be a bailout of the hospitality industry in the near future?

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