Winner!

For several weeks I have conducted a survey on the blog to learn if Americans believe we are in an "economic recession" or "economic slowdown". The winner of the Blog Contest is Karen Cochran who correctly told me that we are in an "economic slowdown". Karen wins a free portrait session with an 11x14 portrait (a $200 value).

I conducted the survey because I personally felt that although times have been really tough for everyone, the news on "the street" was totally wrong. We are NOT in a recession. To put my theory to the test I looked up the definition of what a full blown recession should look like. Check this out.

In macroeconomics, a recession is generally associated with a decline in a country's real gross domestic product (GDP), or negative real economic growth. According to one widespread definition, a recession occurs when real growth is negative for two or more successive quarters of a year. However, there are differing definitions: In the United States, the National Bureau of Economic Research's (NBER) Business Cycle Dating Committee ultimately decides whether the economy has fallen into a recession. The NBER defines a recession as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production and wholesale-retail sales."

Now, that's a mouth full for a definition. However, as you can see the GDP hasn't reached the requirement to fill the definition. So, I say to everyone in opposition to what the news media is telling us and how I see this turning out from day to day: "Don't panic! We're gonna be okay". At Portrait Corner Studio, I'm preparing myself and my business for when the "economic slowdown" starts making an upturn. For now, we're just thankful that God is bringing us through this difficult time, and we feel blessed that He is still the CEO and Chief Financial Officer of our business.

Willie