On Tuesday’s State of The Union Address, President Obama touted of strong economic progress. I see the stock markets on a continuous decline, commodities are also doing the same, Oil is at record lows, Gold usually a safe bet for investors also down. Where is the economic boom that I keep hearing about? What I do see if fear, what I feel is uncertainty in our economy, what I have is little faith that our economy is rebounding and on the rise.

January 1st, the DOW Jones Industrial Average was 17,425, January 15th it is at 15,988. The NASDAQ started 2016 at 5,107 and mid January we see its continued decline to 4,615. Commodities are all in declined across the board as well, so I’ve got to think, What the hell is going on? Are we on the edge of another recession? How long can this go on? 2015 was a gradual decline, but starting 2016 with a rapid decent is not a good sign for many. Some have lost parts of their fortune, some have been more directly effected pushing back retirement, getting second jobs, or putting off large expenditures, but why? More upsetting is why and I being told differently?

With so many intertwined components in our global economy it is tough to pin point what is causing our poor economic environment. Could it be China reaching its tipping point? Have they built their last ghost city with no none to inhabit it? Could it be Iran’s pending flood of new oil into the global market? How long can this go on before counties that need higher costs of commodities to make their countries budget can no longer pay their bills and lending nations try and take over? Will China hit a dire point in their economy that they need to the US to repay our loans in full? I am not an alarmist, I am not an economist, I don’t know any of these answers. What I do know is that the numbers do not lie and when I am told the opposite of what the numbers show I grow concern.

What is one to do when it feels as though we are heading towards economic turmoil? What I do is nothing different than carry on with my normal days. I continue to work towards growing businesses, creating jobs, and spending money. Supply and demand can weaken an economy, but the fear that grips people into deviating from normalcy and fear is what keeps it down. As in every day life, we all decide who we want to be and we become the image we have of ourselves. The same goes for our economy, we need to believe that we are a strong economy and act like it. We need to buy, sell, and invest as though we are a strong economy and create our own internal strength as a nation. To reap the rewards, we must work for them and I will build my future.