Last Run: Converters Brave Rough Economic Waters

Although we may come out of the recession in a year or so, it will still take us much longer to return to the glory days of the past years. The reason I say that has to do with a quirk in how most financial data is reported. It almost always takes the form of the percentage change from the previous year. For example, we hear that automobile sales are down 40 percent from the same month last year. If we fast forward to a year from now, we may very well hear that auto sales are up by 10 percent. That will sound good (and any increase will be good), but it would still mean that sales are 30 percent less than two years before. However, the news flashing across everyone’s screens will be that auto sales are up 10 percent, and people will feel better and will become more likely to buy.