There is no denying that 2020 has been a crazy year. We've dealt with the coronavirus, an economic shutdown, and a presidential election among other things.
Hear Steve and Austin's thoughts as we look at the current state of the economy and share our thoughts looking forward.
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“The American public is resilient and the future is bright... Things are going to get better, and I’m of the opinion that 2021 will be a great year.”
Transcript:
Austin Coley: Steve, the current state of the economy… I'd love to get your thoughts on some recent numbers that have come out, and kind of what you see going forward. Back in the second quarter, when they were released the GDP number for the United States, it was down the most since the great depression. We just recently, in the last month, received the third quarter GDP numbers, and they actually grew the most since World War II.
When you put that against the unemployment rate which fell back in March, April, May, it's continued to rebound, but the total number is still high. How do you compute those numbers? What are you thinking about that? And what would you wanna share going forward?
Steve Alverson, CFP®: Yeah, well, there's a lot there. I think that you hate to say the words this time it's different. There is nothing new under the sun, but really this time it is different. We had a significant drop as a result of the coronavirus, and we essentially had to shut down the economy. But then once the public started to get back to work, they started to move forward.
I think what that shows is that we're not gonna have a prolonged period recession. I think that shows that the American public is resilient and the future is bright, and I think once we get this year behind us and we get the rules of the road, I guess how you would say with the new Congress that comes into play, and we've got the election behind us now, I think once that system is established the future is gonna be bright. The American public's resiliency will show through, and the economy will continue to improve.
Austin: It's interesting you say that this time it's different, right? It's been a crazy 2020 , very different 2020 in a very different year than I've ever experienced before, so this time it is different. On the other hand, when you think about the resiliency of the American people, the American economy, and really the worldwide economy, it isn't different, right? We've had events before that have seemed extremely significant. Not saying that this is not, because it is significant, but history has shown us that the people are resilient and bounce back, which is something that we've continued to see throughout this.
Steve: Yeah, now that's a good point and it gives you hope that things are gonna get better. I would be of the opinion that 2021 is gonna be a great year.
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