May 19, 2011
I’m writing because my family and I were affected by the economic collapse of 2008, and we don’t want it to happen again.
We own a small restaurant 3.5 hours north of San Francisco. Like other tourist areas, real estate here is expensive. It was more so when bankers were fueling the real estate bubble. Consequently, many if not most of employees could not afford to own homes in their own communities. Post-bubble when prices have fallen they are too wary of further collapse to invest in a home.
Further, as people all over this country saw their savings and retirement money wiped out, they stopped going out. My waiters, cooks, and dishwashers, as well as my own family, saw our income dry up. Although we are allegedly post-recession, that is not apparent here.
While I support people earning good money for work well done, the way that bankers are paid runs counter to building a long term investment based business. This country was once an economic powerhouse, with a thriving middle class. It is no more, in large part because of the disastrous games bankers have played with the economy.
Thank you for considering my comment
Nicholas Petti