127 and rising
Have you been watching the World Cup matches? My family and I have and we did check the sound on our TV as we wondered what the “buzz” was. All through the first USA match that we watched, the constant background noise was distracting.
Later that evening, we were entertained by a very happy US fan who serenaded us with his vuvuzela – its the plastic trumpet that has become the signature of the World Cup matches from South Africa. That’s the background noise that accompanies these very emotional matches. Rueters reports that playing one vuvuzela produces 127 decibels of sound, which easily drowns out a chainsaw that produces “only” 100 decibels. Now multiply that by thousands of fans and you too will turn down the volume.
If all the markets could blow their own horns, I think the decibel level would be higher that 127. As the World Cup gathers teams from across nations and continents, so does our economy gather data from and react to global markets. The WSJ article (Mark Gongloff and Nesil Stany June 30, 2010) that accompanies this graph speaks of a “Trifecta of trouble – European debt woes, China’s slowing groth and that stagnating US recovery…”
This trifecta is making a lot of noise right now. The uncertainty surrounding the growth of our economy and specifically taxes going forward are just two concerns we have. But they are loud and clear. I wonder who is listening.
