[TriLUG] New member re-location question

[Greg Brown]

>>
>
> You give way too much credit to the politicians for the mess we're in. 
>  And remember, evidence of the oncoming of hard times started becoming 
> very apparent weeks *before* the current president took office.  The 
> last one was pretty well entrenched when it became popular to move 
> high tech jobs to India.  Both of the big parties will screw you, make 
> no mistake.  Most of these guys have no special inside knowledge about 
> how to make things better for you & me.  The ones that really can make 
> a difference usually have a distaste for politics.
>
I have to agree with Chris.  I saw my billable rates drop from an 
average of well over $150.00 per hour down to UNDER $90.00 well BEFORE 
the election even took place.  What does this mean?  It means the big 
'ol telcos, that were propping up much of the industry during the 90's, 
were already going bust because they realized the investments they made 
in infrastructure and "future technologies" were never going to pay 
off.  Too many people in a company with sliding profits - or worse a 
company that's been operating at a loss during "times of plenty" paying 
for "future investments" - means layoffs to full-time employees and 
less demand for consultants which leads to lower billable rates for 
consultants when times start to get hard.  When this happens to one big 
company you've got a small problem.  When an ENTIRE industry tanks 
you've got yourself the seeds of a recession.

Besides, the people who are really to "blame" for this recession, in my 
opinion, are the ones that blindly paid $500 a share for yahoo and a 
zillion other companies that had NEVER turned a profit (and many that 
never would).  People poured money into the sector thinking they were 
going to get a quick buck in return, as if magic, and it didn't happen. 
  A very few people got rich and most lost money that invested.  Kind of 
like the price of flower bulbs in holland (or wherever it was).

Just my option and observation(s).  I don't have a MBA or anything.

Greg