If you have reduced what you normally spend week in and week out you likely are!

Of course, if you have lost your job or have had your fixed income reduced due to what is going on in the financial market it is understandable for you to reduce your spending, and I am sorry this has happened. What I am addressing here are the majority of people who have had little to no monetary change in their income - most of the population.

We are a panic driven people, and this kind of situation breeds more panic and negative news upon itself. Just look at how fast the stock market traders respond to news. A bad news story yesterday gets them to sell everything today and then, a good news story tomorrow will have them buying again - fickle group. But our society as a whole seems to behave more like this than with reason.

Those of you that have had little to no change in your economic situation, don't let all this fear and worry talk guide your behavior. Boycott the negative news and keep your spending at normal levels. Because if you fall prey to the negative news and slow your spending you will be contributing to the mess, and contributing to a poor retail climate and forcing thousands more people to loose their jobs. Have you ever considered how many people you support with your retail spending?

Our economy is based on cash FLOW, not on holding money. If the normal flow is diminished too much it all falls apart, do you want to contribute to that? Yes we are in a real estate downturn, yes many people are losing their homes, yes credit is tighter, yes interest rates are dropping - but most people are still getting the same paycheck they have been for a while and are not directly affected by these problems to a great degree.

If a typical waiter or waitress serves 6 to 10 tables, how many people have to stop going to a restaurant in order for them to loose their job? Not many! Now when they loose their job, there is one more person that has less money to pass around the economy. If you think about this a moment you can see how this just snowballs and it can happen quickly.

The unemployment in the US is up about 1.4% since September of 2007 and maybe growing still, but how many people are still working? About 94%. All the people that are still getting paid regularly are really in control here of the overall economy. The question is will they allow fear and panic to overwhelm their reason and tighten their wallets and purses to the point that the cash flow is greatly reduced?

There is much evidence that this is happening. Restaurants are less busy than normal, retail sales are down. Think about it for a minute, lets say that the 1.4% additional people that are not working this year do not spend any money, how much should this affect the overall economy? Not much right.

And how many homeowners have lost their homes? Are they no longer spending any money anywhere? Of course not, they still have jobs, have expenses and now pay rent.

So why then are retail sales down by so much more? It's because the rest of us have reduced our spending, why? Yes we can bring up that people on fixed income have lost some buying power but again, this is not the majority and their income has been reduced not eliminated.

I am asking that we all assess our situation and determine if we really need to be holding back beyond our normal spending habits. I think that the bulk of the population does not need to reduce spending, that they only need to stop letting the fear based news affect them. If most do reduce spending, the economy will continue to spiral down, then unemployment will rise and more and more will have to reduce spending. We will all suffer more if this happens. Do what you must, but please be sure that it is actually necessary and that it is not based on fear. Your fears will come to be if you participate in them right now.

As citizens, the ball is in our court. Help keep the economy afloat and vibrant so these current problems will correct quickly rather than slowly. So that the current problems are not compounded. So that more unemployed people will get jobs sooner than later.

Taking command of your thinking is your real power. Boycott the negative press and choose to not buy into the fear - rather buy what you usually buy. Let's show that we are strong mentally and not let the tail wag the dog. We are the economy, not the problems or the news.