Reply #52: Yes [View All]

[BigErnMcCracken]

I have said all along that the giant leap in oil prices did far more damage than many think. I have friends in the banking business who would sit there and explain to me why the real estate situation was the problem - I just said to them that I UNDERSTOOD. However, the high price of fuel was simply choking many people who had stable jobs and/or businesses to death.

I have to commute just under 40 miles one way. I think you can imagine the hell that played with my personal economics when the cost of just getting to my desk in the morning jumped by 100% and stayed there. It was brutal. About a year later, you could almost feel the impact finally starting to hit home with a lot of people. There was simply not that disposable income anymore and people had used up their personal buffers for credit cards etc.