Well, our budget has been presented and now we have to live with it. Needless to say things are going to be more difficult here for everybody until we work our way out of this global mess. The good news i suppose is that tourists should benefit from our problems as prices in general just have to come down as our businesses now have to compete more and more. Things have already dropped and food prices and accommodation prices are much more competetive. We were pricing ourselves out of the market altogether and many people here did not even seem to notice that as their wages continually rose to meet their rising costs. This of course just could not continue and when the slump came it came with disastrous results for many people who will now have a job extricating themselves from the huge debts they have built up. Like many other countries the value of peoples recently purchased homes are now far less than the loans they took out on those homes. "Negative equity" they call it. We never even heard of that term when i was a young man. Borrowing was only for those who were well off. In recent years it became the norm for everybody. Now the day of reckoning has arrived and brought with it an awful awakening for many.
As a private driver and guide chauffeur drive tour operator the good news for anybody with the intention of coming to Ireland next year is that my prices will be at least as good as last year and hopefully better. Fuel once again was hit in the budget and if you think that you are paying a lot for it in the USA then you should see what it costs us here. We are now somewhere between $8-00 and $9-00 for a gallon and when you are touring you do use a few gallons. On the positive side i should be working out better on my hotel charges and other expenses and my clients will certainly benefit also on their food costs while they are here. Shopping in general is improving by the day and there are sales on everywhere all the time with genuine bargains. Ireland is certainly becoming more and more attractive as a holiday destination and long may that last. We needed an awakening and we have gotten it i think. Come and see for yourself.
I believe that things are improving in the USA? Maybe you might like to comment.
It's hard to say... car dealerships are practically begging me to buy cars from them and I'm finding really good deals for the holidays... They say the stock market is up, and my 401k has almost recovered to what it was before the bottom fell out... But at work there are layoffs coming, and houses in my neighborhood aren't selling as quickly. So I don't know... when faced with all that it's a little hard for me to believe that we're recovering.
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