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This is the first recession I can remember living through. I don't remember 2008 at all since I was a kid and NZ was barely affected by it.

This is a much worse recession than 2008, but in my day to day life, nothing has changed for me. Things feel exactly the same. The economy might have shrunk 20%, but life seems to still go on. Nothing has disappeared because of it. The things I know are still here, the surroundings I know have stayed mostly the same.

I've always had an expectation that the atmosphere and feeling in a recession would be different. Things feel absolutely normal for me. The only change has been on charts and paper. It hasn't made any difference to me if the economy was $300 billion or $250 billion now.

Reading back on the news on previous recessions, you get a feel of a dire situation. You read that buildings are boarded up. You read that there is a visible increase in homelessness. You read that kids go to school without shoes. You see people in destroyed attire. There is just supposed to be a general negative atmosphere in society. At least that is the impression I've had from reading the news previously. Currently I'm just not seeing any of that. That isn't to say that it isn't happening. It just doesn't seem widespread and/or a national catastrophe.

Am I just talking too soon or just naive? I just had a different expectation but things feel exactly the same to me.

This is the first recession I can remember living through. I don't remember 2008 at all since I was a kid and NZ was barely affected by it. This is a much worse recession than 2008, but in my day to day life, nothing has changed for me. Things feel exactly the same. The economy might have shrunk 20%, but life seems to still go on. Nothing has disappeared because of it. The things I know are still here, the surroundings I know have stayed mostly the same. I've always had an expectation that the atmosphere and feeling in a recession would be different. Things feel absolutely normal for me. The only change has been on charts and paper. It hasn't made any difference to me if the economy was $300 billion or $250 billion now. Reading back on the news on previous recessions, you get a feel of a dire situation. You read that buildings are boarded up. You read that there is a visible increase in homelessness. You read that kids go to school without shoes. You see people in destroyed attire. There is just supposed to be a general negative atmosphere in society. At least that is the impression I've had from reading the news previously. Currently I'm just not seeing any of that. That isn't to say that it isn't happening. It just doesn't seem widespread and/or a national catastrophe. Am I just talking too soon or just naive? I just had a different expectation but things feel exactly the same to me.

7 comments

[–] [Deleted] 6 points (+6|-0)

cue the black and white video of the great depression.

not all places are affected the same and its a little early to visibly see what is being affected. give it a year or so and you might better be able to see just how much has been closed and affected. its not likely to be anywhere you ever go because most people don't go to the places that fail (y'know, why they failed) but it may be the place next to somewhere you go or along or just off major roads. as we see the knock-on effect over the next year or two, you may see more houses foreclosed on which, if demand is low, would probably get boarded up.

right now, there are only segments of the economy that are being forced to fail while the others are being held up by a mix of governments and the assumption that the other segments of the economy will rebound in the near term. if things dont improve or get worse, the sickness (the economic one, not the rona) will spread throughout the economy and require either government money on a scale never scene before or a serious realignment of economic priorities. if things do improve, your not likely to see any signs anything was ever amiss unless you work in an industry that was effected or live in an area where those people live in significant numbers.

tldr; too soon to be feelin it