Obama's Economy

America: State of the Union 2009

“I think that right now most of the world is angry with us.  I hope the new administration will turn things around,” that’s how one 19 year-old college student sums up the state of America today.*

Is America the land of freedom, hope, and opportunity?  Or is she the power hungry, materialistic, elitist hypocrisy that other nations despise?

In 2009, we have emerged from an era in which the goal was to get rich and have a bigger everything (check out our obesity stats, we have a huge lead on Mexico) into a new world in which the goal can be summed up in one word: “survival.”

Hummer’s heyday was in 2006, when it delivered nearly 72,000 models in the U.S., but sales fell 51% last year. Now, just 3 years later, the Honda Insight is trying to steal some magic from the success of Toyota Prius.  While Hummer used to be a  symbol of America’s freedom and independence, it is now independence from oil that wins the day.  Are we distancing ourselves from our materialistic past, or is Hilton’s luxury hotel launch a sign that the culture of luxury just taking a break and will come back stronger than ever?

We like to think that “America is a very individualistic society where everyone, no matter their specific dream or where they are today, can follow their own path.”  The American Idol phenomenon shows that dreams are alive. But in some cases, the American ambition can turn ugly.  We are willing to do anything to achieve our dreams as evidenced by the fight that broke out in line for America’s Next Top Model Audition in New York .

Despite our dreams, the reality is that many of us are like the 34 year old preschool teacher “we are getting through from paycheck to paycheck without bouncing any bills.”  There were over 103,000 bankruptcy filings in February 2009. Spread over the 19 business days of February, the filing rate is 5,433 filings per day. The figure is a 22.0% jump over the January 2009 filing rate.

To read more of our take on the state of the union, visit Sparxoo, a Marketing, Branding and Business Development Blog.

About the Author

Sparxoo is a business blog that inspires breakthrough by tomorrow’s leaders. We are a strategy consulting firm with a pulse on marketing, branding, and development.