The cheery headlines in the news today, such as “Hiring revs up, bit it’s mostly part-time, low-pay” and “Here’s who’s really living with mom and dad,” prompted me to write an article proposing solutions in an ever increasing part-time worker economy. Notice the tongue-and-cheek reference to “cheery.”
News about the health of the economy seems to be contradictory; on one hand, auto sales and the housing market are on an uptick, yet on the other job creation is flat. Too many articles are mentioning how few are benefiting from the stock market growth by either suggesting the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer or flat out stating this as a fact.
In another life, I was most definitely an architect. I love analyzing, gawking at, and dreaming of different architectural styles. Recently, I’ve noticed a trend in commercial properties, whether it be a retail location or multi-unit apartment complex; an urban industrial look and feel to the facade. Brick accents, metal-like paneling, and bold, dark contrasting colors seem to be a running theme in new and redesigned units.
I can’t help but believe that if we (I define “we” as the people and the state and federal government here) support small business, new jobs will be created; created in the form of employees, employers, and budding entrepreneurs.
Reading the business section of any newspaper is depressing to say the least; stocks continue on a roller-coaster ride, much of Europe is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, student loan defaults are up, and a drought grips much of the mid-west. I can’t help but be an optimist when I think, is self-employment the answer to our troubled economy?