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Recently CNBC
aired a documentary titled The Bubble Decade. This
documentary reflects on the first decade of the 21st
century and provides interviews and insights with some of
the people and companies that played a critical role in each
of the three bubbles from 2000-2009. The Bubble Decade
begins with a look at the dot.com era, examines the real
estate bubble and concludes with a look at the credit bubble
that is still being unwound. As the documentary walked
through each of these periods I could not help but think
about how these periods affected our community as a whole or
on an individual level. Each of these bubbles created
millions of dollars of wealth for the few, while wiping out
millions of dollars of wealth for the many. It seems that
by the time most of the people on “Main Street” got to the
party, final call had already being announced, which meant
“Main Street” took a great deal of the losses.
As investors and
consumers it is difficult not to get caught up in the
euphoria of the masses in both investing and purchasing
decisions. This draw of the masses has been the subject of
many psychological studies and is often played on by
companies to influence behavior. Companies realize that if
they can use marketing to lead you to believe you are privy
to a special deal not only will the average consumer try and
capitalize on it, but they will also share the information
with friends creating much more buzz than the original
campaign funded.
The marketing
clout of large companies creates a competitive advantage
when competing against their smaller counterparts. I
encourage you to look beyond the marketing and psychological
underpinnings and look more closely at the promise
delivered. When a large company promises 30% off the
suggested retail price for Friday only, ask yourself how
that compares with the prices offered from your local
business. I know many small businesses that offer their
everyday prices at 25%-40% off suggested retail prices.
As we have seen
over the past ten years “Wall Street” and the companies that
live there are excellent at selling a story, often at the
detriment of “Main Street.” I encourage you to not to get
caught up in the euphoria of the masses created by the
marketing. As a community we often look to “Main Street” to
be the back bone to fund projects in our community through
property tax, sales tax and philanthropy. Maybe in addition
to those endeavors, we should look to “Main Street” to
provide the goods and services we need, too.
Brandon J. Wade
Chamber President |
