Comments on: Why My Business Has Ceased Investing

By: vikingTX

vikingTX — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:06:42 +0000

The scary part is that all the turmoil may be intentional on the part of this administration and whoever is pulling the strings. We would like to think that it can’t happen here, but there is also the threat of a precipitating event that allows the elected powers to claim emergency authority. It is very difficult to commit money and resources to a course of action (business plan) that could be rendered obsolete in a matter of weeks by such an event.

By: Gulermo

Gulermo — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:09:31 +0000

“After all I would much rather invest in a new truck now for $200,000 and not need it for 4 years than wait the four years and have to pay $500,000 for the same truck.”
You are still out the “investment”(working capital) ,(and attendant issues, ie; depreciation, maintenence etc.)for the period specified and considering that the future is an unknown, wouldn’t it be a wiser position to, at the very least at this point, wait until the Government makes it’s move vis a vis legislation. Re: the resale, would that be paid for in current non-inflated dollars, or the other type? No answer is required. This such a good deal, you should get in early and stay in long. Good luck with that.

By: smg45acp

smg45acp — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:28:33 +0000

I could not agree with you more.
Uncertainty is the death of investing and business expansion and so when you multiply uncertainty to the 100 power, like Obama is doing, you are killing investment.
I don’t own my own business anymore, but If I did I would not even be considering putting out any capital until all of the craziness settled down.

By: Don L CT

Don L CT — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:21:29 +0000

Can we sell short the Whitehouse? Where can I get such a foolproof investment?

By: Thomas Swartz

Thomas Swartz — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:19:05 +0000

I hope your business continues to be sucessful , I laid off the my last 13 employees today .

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:51:45 +0000

In regards to your decision no to invest in infrastructure your situation might be unique. Your infrastructure after all is located on public lands. For the rest of us I am not so sure reducing infrastructure investments is such a good idea when faced with the high potential of hyper inflation. After all I would much rather invest in a new truck now for $200,000 and not need it for 4 years than wait the four years and have to pay $500,000 for the same truck. Even if I don’t need it in four years If I could find a buyer it would have made for a very good investment. After all sometimes the best investment is not the stock market (or gold for that matter) but something of tangible value that you can hold in your own possession.

By: tomw

tomw — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:26:39 +0000

I pointed chicagoboyz.net at this comment:

http://chicagoboyz.net/archives/9610.html

as an example of business concern for future ‘conditions’ …

tom

By: stan

stan — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:04:10 +0000

Fabius Maximus explicitly rejects your point in his response to comments to this post. http://fabiusmaximus.wordpress.com/2009/10/05/update-2/#comment-24983

I think he’s nuts. Your decision mirrors what I am seeing among all the business people I know.

By: VA

VA — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:15:37 +0000

You might be interested in the “regime uncertainty” argument developed by Bob Higgs. Higgs argued that the depth of the Great Depression (and its length) boil down to businesses being unwilling to invest because owners did not know what type of environment would exist in the next few years. His great paper, which should be read by anyone interested in the subject, can be found at:

http://www.independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_01_4_higgs.pdf

By: Evil Red Scandi

Evil Red Scandi — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:53:47 +0000

Well, the bad news is that their next step is to tie you down and electrocute you until you tell them what orders they need to give.