Depression and acquiring new jackets

[Curahee]

Are any of you affected by the economic depression and if so have you put your hobby on hold for now ?.
Over here (Netherlands) things are going fast now and there maybe a depression here too before long, I have one jacket in the pipeline but that's it for this year.

 

[John Lever]

I plan to still buy jackets but don't plan to sell any of my major jackets because of depressed prices. I think pressure will mount on the top end manufacturers and we may even see some go under.
There will be bargains, and I have noticed a recent improvements in customer service.

 

[Atticus]

I'm not quite ready to say that we're in the grip of an economic depression, but yes, I've become much more selective about what I buy---especially with respect to jackets. I now tend to buy only when I can get a very good deal on a jacket that I know that I will wear.

AF

 

[zoomer]

Lying in wait for that perfect A-1.

(Gee, it's crowded inside this shrubbery.)

 

[John Lever]

Lying in wait for that perfect A-1.

(Gee, it's crowded inside this shrubbery.)

It's here !!!
GW and/or Eastman....

 

[greyhound52]

Lying in wait for that perfect A-1.

(Gee, it's crowded inside this shrubbery.)

It's here !!!
GW and/or Eastman....

Agree but try finding a used one. I got lucky on my Eastman.

 

[usafwso]

Not affected by the economy yet but will also be a bit more selective in what I buy and of course on the lookout for a great deal.

 

[rgraham]

I'm sure few, if any, here have ever been through a depression. Me included. But, I can assure you, this is not a depression. I have yet to see soup lines shown on the television, and guys with "Will work for food" signs have been around for years. We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.

 

[Andrew]

I'm entering a state of depression with cooler weather over till next May and a big bad summer looming.....

I have to say that i'll be pretty much content for a long time with my GW purchase and a cheap original A-2 and Irvin pickup a few months ago, plus the $AU was high at the time. Now that our dollar's also slipped again I won't be spending.

 

[Milu]

I'm sure few, if any, here have ever been through a depression. Me included. But, I can assure you, this is not a depression. I have yet to see soup lines shown on the television, and guys with "Will work for food" signs have been around for years. We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.

How would you define a depression?

I see people losing their homes, working and struggling to pay bills, I see businesses stagnating and banks in trouble. There are "government definitions" based on economic indicators which are biased for optimism and late which are pointing to a depression. I'm not afraid for myself but it looks very bad.

 

[Grant]

I've switched all of my 401K's to horsehide and goatskin futures.

 

[Cliff]

I'm sure few, if any, here have ever been through a depression. Me included. But, I can assure you, this is not a depression. I have yet to see soup lines shown on the television, and guys with "Will work for food" signs have been around for years. We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.

Here in the UK we are talking about a "recession", not a "depression". A recession is more about low or zero growth in industry which if it gets really bad can with time degenerate into a depression. Various "rescue packages" are being rolled out in an attempt to slow or halt the recession by injecting money into the banking industry in an attempt to restore confidence in stock markets and banking functions. I personally am not sure that that will have any major effect but time will tell. Either way I believe it will take several years for the world to climb out of it's current financial gloom and yes luxury goods manufactures will suffer as it's their products that people stop buying first.

 

[ties70]

My wife and I are still in a kind of comfortable position:
She, being a school teacher, is a public servant and I am working for an "Old Economy" industry company, which is pretty stable here in Europe and in Asia.

Regarding jackets:
I used to buy a lot just because it was cheap (mainly due to the weak USD)...recently I have bought only GW jackets. Think it might be easier to sell them if I have to...

Ties

 

[Atticus]

How would you define a depression?

I see people losing their homes, working and struggling to pay bills, I see businesses stagnating and banks in trouble. There are "government definitions" based on economic indicators which are biased for optimism and late which are pointing to a depression. I'm not afraid for myself but it looks very bad.

Hi Milu,

Back when I was in school (during the last ice age) we were taught that a recession was anytime that GDP (gross domestic product) decreased in three consecuative quarters. A depression was defined as a very long and severe recession. This definition has always appeared much too simple to me. What follows is a quote from an article that I recently read. It's analysis makes more sense in my opinion.

"A good rule of thumb for determining the difference between a recession and a depression is to look at the changes in GNP. A depression is any economic downturn where real GDP declines by more than 10 percent. A recession is an economic downturn that is less severe.
By this yardstick, the last depression in the United States was from May 1937 to June 1938, where real GDP declined by 18.2 percent. If we use this method then the Great Depression of the 1930s can be seen as two separate events: an incredibly severe depression lasting from August 1929 to March 1933 where real GDP declined by almost 33 percent, a period of recovery, then another less severe depression of 1937-38. The United States hasn’t had anything even close to a depression in the post-war period. The worst recession in the last 60 years was from November 1973 to March 1975, where real GDP fell by 4.9 percent. Countries such as Finland and Indonesia have suffered depressions in recent memory using this definition."

AF

 

[hacker]

A recession is when your neighbor loses his job, a depression is when you lose yours....... :!:

 

[TankBuster]

We are on our way to something very bad! The market is down over 400 pts
to below 9/11 stats as I type this. My prediction is this will be much more
serious than what is being led on! I hope I'm wrong!!

 

[Falcon_52]

My thoughts on this are that if you are looking for something in particular and have the means, then buy it now. Prices have no place to go but up and will certainly be exacerbated by the weakening U.S. dollar and rising inflation.

Noel

 

[Curahee]

OK let met refrase that, recession got a little carried away but this just doesn't feel right :shock:
I hope everything works out but I was standing in very long soup line during this lunch hour :roll:

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Well, the price of Irvins has certainly come down in the last few weeks. 3 in succession that i was watching went for £150 or less. Sure, they're small, but they were going for much more earlier in the year. I feel the current worrying climate has more than a little to do with people's reluctance to part with the shillings for "another bloody stinking old leather jacket" as the Baroness puts it.

bk

 

[Swing]

When I saw this thread I assumed it was about depressed men buying new jackets to feel better about themselves.

My flight jacket buying days are over for the time being, for the following reasons... change in climate, cost, and I'm content with the jackets I currently have. The latter is self expanitory. The first two... I'd like a GW A-2, but they (and everyone elses) are too darn expensive. And, I hardly wear the A-2s I have now, partly due to weather patterns in my neck of the woods. Last few years it's been going from hot to cold in the fall, and cold to hot in the spring too dramatically for much A-2 use. T shirt weather from June through September, Tanker in October and November, B-15 and B-6 November through March, back to the Tanker or wool jacket in April and May, then back to t shirts. Really, I'm only looking at maybe a month in the fall and spring where the A-2 is useful.

~Swing