A “Lockdown Economy” Without The Lockdowns:

A “Lockdown Economy” Without The Lockdowns: 48 Percent Of U.S. Small Businesses Couldn’t Even Pay Their Rent Last Month

Michael

When nearly half of all small businesses are struggling so much that they can’t even pay their rent, you have an enormous economic crisis on your hands.  The last time that we witnessed anything like this was during the peak of the COVID pandemic, but here in 2024 we don’t have a major global health crisis to blame for our catastrophic economic performance.  In March 2021, 49 percent of small business owners in the United States could not make their rent payments, but that was because so many states had instituted lockdowns which were severely harming the economy.  In September 2024, 48 percent of small business owners in the United States could not make their rent payments, but there is no excuse this time around…

According to business networking platform Alignable’s September Revenue & Rent Report, 48% of small business renters could not make their rent payments. That was up from 41% in July and August. And it was the highest it has been since the Covid recovery era in March 2021, when 49% of small business owners were delinquent.

We have a “lockdown economy” without the lockdowns.

Does anyone out there want to try to put a positive spin on this?

Because if you do, I would love to hear what you have to say.

Fox Business interviewed one restaurant owner in California that has tried everything that she can think of to keep her restaurants going…

A regenerative farmer and restaurateur who closed several of her California eateries is now facing the possibility of shutting down her remaining two locations.

Mollie Engelhart, owner of Sage Regenerative Kitchen, said despite her continuous attempts to keep her restaurants afloat, they are “barely hanging on by a thread.”

“It doesn’t feel like we can hold on because I’ve run out of assets to literally liquidate, to keep us above ground and above water,” Engelhart told FOX Business. Engelhart said she and her husband “leveraged everything” including their retirement and home, in hopes that things would turn around.

Of course many larger businesses are deeply struggling too.  In fact, we just learned that TGI Fridays has just filed for bankruptcy…

Casual dining chain TGI Fridays Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas on Saturday with the company’s executive chairman saying it still has not fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, the percentage of middle-income households that rate their financial situations negatively has just hit a brand new high…

America’s middle class is feeling the squeeze like never before, according to new data.

Primerica’s latest Financial Security Monitor report for the third quarter found 55% of middle-income households now rate their personal financial situation negatively, a 6-point jump from the previous survey.

It is being reported that Nissan “is planning on cutting production of its main U.S. models by 30%”…

In continuing signs that the U.S. consumer is tapped, Nissan is planning on cutting production of its main U.S. models by 30%, according to a new report from Nikkei, which says the cuts could jeopardize the automaker’s 2024 global sales targets.

Nissan forecasts a 99% drop in quarterly operating profit to 995 million yen ($6.52 million) and a 12% decline to 500 billion yen for the year, citing weakening U.S. market earnings, the report says

So far in 2024, U.S. banks have shut down more than 700 branches…

US banks closed more than 700 branches in the first nine months of the year, forcing thousands to travel further to access vital services.

Bank of America closed the most locations of any bank, shuttering 132 between January and September.

U.S. Bank followed swiftly behind, having closed 101 of their own branches.

If our banks thought that the economy was about to turn around, they wouldn’t be doing this.

Warren Buffett continues to sell off stocks, and he now has a cash stockpile of 325 billion dollars…

Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate headed by Warren E. Buffett, extended its retreat from stocks in the third quarter, cutting its holdings in Apple and Bank of America and increasing its cash to a record $325.2 billion.

Our leaders flooded the system with money and piled up trillions upon trillions of dollars in new debt.

They were able to delay the inevitable for a few years, but now the economy is crashing anyway.

Economic pain is all around us, but what is ahead is going to be even worse.