Reply #16: A lot of that construction could simply be inertia [View All]

[NickB79]

A lot of building projects take years to get off the ground. That hospital, big-box store, housing development, etc that you saw could have secured funding before the credit crisis hit and were locked into their construction plans when the crap hit the fan. Here in the Twin Cities, we drive by several big-box stores and housing developments that were finished this past summer but are still sitting empty.

As for all the shoppers out and about, I have read that there is a LOT of window shopping going on but very little actual buying this year. This weekend, when my wife and I went to wander the Mall of America, she turned to me and said "The place is packed, but no one is carrying any bags!". That was a sobering realization to say the least.