sign of the times

Outside of the For Lease signs hanging everywhere on a whole batch of real estate projects that had so hopefully sprung up in the last 6 months here in town I noticed a curious transition last night on the way in to work that may set the stage for a change in our local economy..

An old house had fronted for the last two years as an EBay reseller business--with the theory that you bring your treasures in, they sell them immediately and you pocket the cash minus a fee. But Ebay isn't what it used to be--selling items now is a chancey thing--only about thirty percent of the listings actually becomes a sale. Too many people trying to unload too many things. Grandma's Depression glass isn't necessarily money in the bank anymore. Seems like the whole economy is like that. Too many sellers, too many goods. Not enough buyers. Scary. The last time we had a situation like that was in the 1930's. Is thus a sign of the times?

Back to the Ebay reseller. A few weeks ago, the sign was taken down and a "For Rent" sign went up. Last night, the sign had been replaced. With a neon ad for "Psychic Readings". Does this mean that we're running so scared and so distrustful of our illustrious government that we need to have the advice of a tea leaf reader?

On the other hand, maybe the swami's advice beats Bernanke and Bush.