IM - Interesting - makes sense, but I hadn't thought of that correlation until you mentioned it.

Though I love to trash the MSM as much as anybody . . . this was a very savvy article by Abby Goodnough. She even picked up on the population growth slump in Florida, which is huge, population growth being to Florida what auto production is to Michigan. A leading indicator of population growth, school enrollment, was absolutely flat in Florida last fall. First time that has happened since 1982. Recall what fun year that was - the worst recession of the post-WWII era.

Yep. We kind of saw this one coming a long time ago. I actually believe that part of the reason that the government agencies turned such a blind eye to frantic pace of the Real Estate boom was because they were liking the increase in tax revenue.

This also holds true for Corporations, since the Board of Directors earn most of their bonuses through profit sharing. Thus, they are essentially on the same side as the IRS. The more profitable they make the company look, the higher their bonuses and the more the IRS receives in taxes. Very symbiotic. This is generally why the investigations don't really begin until the company goes bust.

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Interesting audio there.

Some points from it:

furniture making did not do so well as analysts expected in the housing boom because 25% of houses were bought by speculators and were never furnished.

Consumers are being pinched by increases in mortgages

Manufacturing in the area is one of the highest in the country but is losing employment

One of North Carolinas solutions is to offer incenitives to firms such as Google who will employ 250 people.

A furniture manufacture employing 500 people and doing well has adopted japanese style worker based quality groups. The owner says that instead of focusing on reducing worker costs to the level of the chinese, firms should concentrate on ensuring each component of productivity produces something that shows in the finished product.

Carolina furniture has been hurting for quite some time. With that said...

"A furniture manufacture employing 500 people and doing well has adopted japanese style worker based quality groups. The owner says that instead of focusing on reducing worker costs to the level of the chinese, firms should concentrate on ensuring each component of productivity produces something that shows in the finished product."

Yes. I want furniture that will actually survive a move. Cheap furniture is made of particle board that warps in humid weather, and cannot hold a screw in place.

I don't understand why people are so cheap with furniture considering it's lifespan and usefulness. People who will spend several grand on a TV that will be obsolete in 5 years (or on a computer game system that will be obsolete in 2) look at me like I am crazy when I spend 2k on an armoire that will last me decades.

However, it is amazing how hard it is to get quality furniture these days. Even Ethan Allen uses plywood in their chairs and sofas these days. I have 40 year old Clyde Pearson (NC furniture co long out of business) chairs with solid maple frames. My parents gave them to me because they were old and stained. The guy who reupholstered them for me told me to never sell them -- I will never be able to get anything as good as them again.