I don’t know about you, but I’m just a little sick of hearing about all the financial doom and gloom. If I’ve learned anything from being a full-time, serial entrepreneur its that people will pay for value. If they don’t pay you, it’s because there is no value. More billionaires were created during the Great Depression than any other time in history. Recession means… YARD SALE!

Life takes some interesting turns when you extend the inevitable with credit. Credit allows you to maintain the appearance of lifestyle for an extended length of time before the trench becomes too vast to cross.

The national debt has now gone past $10 Trillion pushing our individual contribution to between $10,000 and $30,000 per person… (And I thought my credit card debt was bad!).

A free market will naturally correct itself if left alone. We have a tendency to want to prevent changes from occurring; but, species naturally go extinct; the planet naturally warms and cools; and civilizations come and go.

Now it’s man’s turn on Earth. We are stewards. The idea behind Stewardship is to recognize that we are caretakers. Responsible caretakers are also concerned with the public trust and the use of public funds.

The public does not need to buyout bad mortgage debts or other industries. Houses will foreclose, the price of homes will adjust and people will move to homes that they can afford. With the tearing down of entrenched institutions, newer, better companies emerge. Much like a forest fire releases new growth for a healthier forest.

I think the government has been highly irresponsible with our tax dollars. Fiscally responsible policies need to become a top priority, or we will see conditions worse than a Great Depression, we will see a bankrupt nation that is largely mortgaged to foreign countries.

After watching the first presidential debate, we now have a clear picture of what we are voting for. I am constantly annoyed by the sheer magnitude of the miss-characterizations of each candidate.

He’s young and naive, super liberal, and a scary Muslim; He is old, doesn’t care about the middle class, has bad judgment and offers us more of the same.

Booth statements, of course, are a load of crap. The fact of the matter is that Obama is a very skilled uniter, energizer and visionary. McCain is clearly the authority on international relationships and war strategy; he was after all nearly promoted to the rank of Admiral in the Navy along with being involved with policy, diplomacy and strategy for every conflict in the last 3 decades.

If we can get by the political spin and name calling, here are the main points I think establish clear contrasts between the two candidates and in deciding your vote for who may best for our country:

1. Economic Crisis

Obama: Increase taxes on the rich (people who make over $250,000 per year), close corporate loopholes and tax advantages.

McCain: Decrease taxes across the board and reduce capital gains taxes; though, Obama would have even more decreased taxes for the middle-class.

1. War Time Management

Obama: Responsibly pullout of Iraq on a set time-table, focus troops on Afghanistan. He would attack the Taliban inside Pakistan with or without permission. He would hold open talks with no-preconditions with rouge nations like Iran, North Korea, and others.

McCain: Support the Iraq government in a secure transition of power when the environment is stable enough. He would use the same surge strategy of Iraq in Afghanistan. He would allow low level diplomats to negotiate with Iran, North Korea and others to establish a pre-condition before legitimizing rouge nations with a presidential contact.

These two issues are really the only thing that matters today; all of the other social programs discussed will not come to reality, because the two core issues have such a magnitude that to focus on anything else would be suicidal. Could you imagine introducing a government controlled/issued health care program with the economy the way it is? Most of our economic stress is not war, it is Medicare and Social Security.

We must focus our Country’s energy on fiscal responsibility and spending restraint to bring the national budget and debt under control. To inhibit small businesses would be very detrimental. This was all done before during the Carter era. It was corrected and had its resulting benefits of prosperity beginning with the Regan policies.

Our economic breakdowns today do not originate from Bush policies; they stem from corporate greed and open handed politicians who purposefully ignored the warning signs from years ago. It stems from rising oil costs and loose lending restrictions.

Hopefully, whoever is elected really does have the best interests of the country in mind and will really work to solve the problems and not just put Band-Aids on the system.

A downturn in one sector spells and upturn in another; however, bracing for economic downturns can make anyone’s neck hairs bristle – especially when your business model is singularly entrenched in a single sector.

The key is to remember that as business owners we are investors not parents. If you look at business ownership as you would an investment portfolio then you would likely be keen to have diversification.

Here is my prediction on how the economic recession will slosh from one sector to another:

Mortgage Lending Drops and Foreclosures Increase => Demand for Renting Increases

Baby Boomers Retire => Recreation, Retirement and Home Healthcare Services Thrive

Gas Prices Go Up => Alternative and Economic Vehicles Come in Demand

Household Disposable Income Goes Down => Demand for Cheap Goods Goes Up (Big Box Stores Thrive)

Corporate Layoffs Escalate => New Skills Training Increases

This is only my opinion of course; however, searching for demand is really a lot easier than it seems. It’s just a process of looking for the pain and solving the problem. That is easier said than done I realize.

Some keys are to listen to what people say; like, “… I just can’t find anyone who carries (x)…” or “I wish I could find (x)…” The second step is to measure the comment to the number of possible purchasers (people with the problem). If the numbers make sense, you may have found a winner.

I’ve been thinking… not to create alarm or anything! … what bio-fuels (food based fuels) may actually mean to our economy.

Now I’m all over alternative fuels. I think oil has been a cultural crutch for too long. In terms of Hostage Negotiators, oil is the source of all monetary value (Hostage Negotiator will be a familiar term to those of you that have listened to my audio program Perpetual Wealth). Alternative fuels would defiantly disperse the power grid.

Ethanol, on the other hand creates some interesting logical dynamics. For example, doesn’t it really still require fossil fuel to produce Ethanol? Some pundits assert that it actually consumes more fossil fuel than it displaces.

Second, if we place a demand on food production that is as horrific as the demand we put on fossil fuels, wouldn’t that reduce available food production? Less food available means prices go up.

So here’s the problem: less food to consume, higher prices for groceries; no fossil fuel use is actually displaced requiring the refinement of not one, but two fuels increasing the demand on fuel—prices go up.

Rising prices is inflation.

The United States doesn’t rank number 1 as the best place to start a business according to Fortune Small Business. New Zealand tops the chart as most entrepreneur friendly. Where are we here in the good old U.S. of A? Number 2–followed by Canada, and Australia.