ripple effects from government employment/contracting uncertainty in DMV economy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My massage therapist is a Trump supporter, she claimed he will be good for small businesses. Past Sunday I scheduled a same day appointment because of some back issues and the place was empty (previously she barely had any open slots), she was very stressed because people have started cutting back on discretionary spending. I was thinking later on that people like her didn't think of anything or anyone else beyond their own myopic gains, now she can join feds and feel the pain of financial stress. I have no sympathy.

This underscores the powerful a message--however incorrect--when it's said over and over again. We always heard Trump was an amazing businessman. People watched him on TV and he seemed in power and authoritative. However, he was really a fake billionaire.

I never watched The Apprentice, so I never had the chance to be fooled like that.

Most TV is designed to own your brain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brick and mortar stores, particular small businesses, will suffer the most. Commercial real estate has been taking a beating for the last five years and while RTO may help, we are likely seeing a contraction in spending not just regionally but nationally.

The local business headlines are whiplash.

In the one hand doom and gloom about the fed workforce.

On the other an article that there isn’t enough Class A office space (the best newest office space) for all the law firms and other firms looking to expand in DC.

I remember from the 2008 recession that I was ready to hunker down financially and saw that some companies still hadn't figured out the recession was arriving. Those companies hired and expanded. Later, they laid people off.

Some leaders don't look ahead.

The surrounding counties have never diversified. They depend solely on government spending and government employees paying real estate taxes. Any other business is purely an afterthought .

It's served the region pretty well until now. The DMV is one of the wealthiest areas in the country. But economic growth has recently been pretty anemic especially in Maryland.

Mass federal layoffs will be crippling. Expect lots of cuts to local public services, high unemployment rates and lots of damage to small businesses that rely on federal employee spending.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My massage therapist is a Trump supporter, she claimed he will be good for small businesses. Past Sunday I scheduled a same day appointment because of some back issues and the place was empty (previously she barely had any open slots), she was very stressed because people have started cutting back on discretionary spending. I was thinking later on that people like her didn't think of anything or anyone else beyond their own myopic gains, now she can join feds and feel the pain of financial stress. I have no sympathy.

Yes, people will learn the hard way the severe consequences of following cult leader who doesn't care about working folks. Hopefully, these people will learn for next election. When they lose their businesses, that might encourage them to watch other news channels besides fox when you have to cast a vote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brick and mortar stores, particular small businesses, will suffer the most. Commercial real estate has been taking a beating for the last five years and while RTO may help, we are likely seeing a contraction in spending not just regionally but nationally.

The local business headlines are whiplash.

In the one hand doom and gloom about the fed workforce.

On the other an article that there isn’t enough Class A office space (the best newest office space) for all the law firms and other firms looking to expand in DC.

I remember from the 2008 recession that I was ready to hunker down financially and saw that some companies still hadn't figured out the recession was arriving. Those companies hired and expanded. Later, they laid people off.

Some leaders don't look ahead.

The surrounding counties have never diversified. They depend solely on government spending and government employees paying real estate taxes. Any other business is purely an afterthought .

It's served the region pretty well until now. The DMV is one of the wealthiest areas in the country. But economic growth has recently been pretty anemic especially in Maryland.

Mass federal layoffs will be crippling. Expect lots of cuts to local public services, high unemployment rates and lots of damage to small businesses that rely on federal employee spending.

Wrong. You can expect higher real estate taxes to maintain the existing service levels. Otherwise, county employees would need to be fired. If anything, you can expect local government to grow as they try to fix the unemployment problem the only way they know--expand government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brick and mortar stores, particular small businesses, will suffer the most. Commercial real estate has been taking a beating for the last five years and while RTO may help, we are likely seeing a contraction in spending not just regionally but nationally.

The local business headlines are whiplash.

In the one hand doom and gloom about the fed workforce.

On the other an article that there isn’t enough Class A office space (the best newest office space) for all the law firms and other firms looking to expand in DC.

I remember from the 2008 recession that I was ready to hunker down financially and saw that some companies still hadn't figured out the recession was arriving. Those companies hired and expanded. Later, they laid people off.

Some leaders don't look ahead.

The surrounding counties have never diversified. They depend solely on government spending and government employees paying real estate taxes. Any other business is purely an afterthought .

It's served the region pretty well until now. The DMV is one of the wealthiest areas in the country. But economic growth has recently been pretty anemic especially in Maryland.

Mass federal layoffs will be crippling. Expect lots of cuts to local public services, high unemployment rates and lots of damage to small businesses that rely on federal employee spending.

Wrong. You can expect higher real estate taxes to maintain the existing service levels. Otherwise, county employees would need to be fired. If anything, you can expect local government to grow as they try to fix the unemployment problem the only way they know--expand government.

What part of Moscow do you live in?

Here in the DMV people remember the Great Recession. Counties had layoffs, furloughs and benefits cuts. Services like library hours were scaled back. And the suburbs were relatively insulated from the recession. But it was not an easy time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Brick and mortar stores, particular small businesses, will suffer the most. Commercial real estate has been taking a beating for the last five years and while RTO may help, we are likely seeing a contraction in spending not just regionally but nationally.

The local business headlines are whiplash.

In the one hand doom and gloom about the fed workforce.

On the other an article that there isn’t enough Class A office space (the best newest office space) for all the law firms and other firms looking to expand in DC.

Which law firms are expanding? Know lots of people who got pushed out of Big Law in the past two years. The trend has been to downsize and belt tighten.

Law firms are getting out of their pre-COVID leases and trying to move to another Class A property for less money. So many empty Class B & C office bldgs right now.

My friends in employment law locally have their phones ringing off the hook right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My massage therapist is a Trump supporter, she claimed he will be good for small businesses. Past Sunday I scheduled a same day appointment because of some back issues and the place was empty (previously she barely had any open slots), she was very stressed because people have started cutting back on discretionary spending. I was thinking later on that people like her didn't think of anything or anyone else beyond their own myopic gains, now she can join feds and feel the pain of financial stress. I have no sympathy.

Yes, people will learn the hard way the severe consequences of following cult leader who doesn't care about working folks. Hopefully, these people will learn for next election. When they lose their businesses, that might encourage them to watch other news channels besides fox when you have to cast a vote.

Trickle down economics in action! When there's nothing to trickle down, things dry up.

[Anonymous]

As someone who works and adds value every day, I wonder how much less I’d have paid for my house if I wasn’t competing with all of you grifting off government welfare. Can’t wait to see the foreclosures.

[Anonymous]

I know a lot of people considering moving in closer because of RTO which may negate the layoffs but i don't have context on how that would offset govt layoffs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My massage therapist is a Trump supporter, she claimed he will be good for small businesses. Past Sunday I scheduled a same day appointment because of some back issues and the place was empty (previously she barely had any open slots), she was very stressed because people have started cutting back on discretionary spending. I was thinking later on that people like her didn't think of anything or anyone else beyond their own myopic gains, now she can join feds and feel the pain of financial stress. I have no sympathy.

This underscores the powerful a message--however incorrect--when it's said over and over again. We always heard Trump was an amazing businessman. People watched him on TV and he seemed in power and authoritative. However, he was really a fake billionaire.

I never watched The Apprentice, so I never had the chance to be fooled like that.

Most TV is designed to own your brain.

There will be a local downturn, but the overall economy is set to soar.

[Anonymous]

Everyone is looking down on non-profit workers now that we know you had a government sinecure. Total grift.

[Anonymous]

Take a breath. You do realize that the NOVA economy is driven by the tech industry and defense contractors, right? Both will do very well over the next 4 years. DC is propped up by lawyers/lobbyist whose phones are ringing off the hook and a ton on international money. There are 6 million people in the DMV, it can absorb some layoffs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who works and adds value every day, I wonder how much less I’d have paid for my house if I wasn’t competing with all of you grifting off government welfare. Can’t wait to see the foreclosures.

Hahahaha

There ain't nobody in the DMV that isn't reliant on government jobs. Who do you think your clientele is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My massage therapist is a Trump supporter, she claimed he will be good for small businesses. Past Sunday I scheduled a same day appointment because of some back issues and the place was empty (previously she barely had any open slots), she was very stressed because people have started cutting back on discretionary spending. I was thinking later on that people like her didn't think of anything or anyone else beyond their own myopic gains, now she can join feds and feel the pain of financial stress. I have no sympathy.

Yes, people will learn the hard way the severe consequences of following cult leader who doesn't care about working folks. Hopefully, these people will learn for next election. When they lose their businesses, that might encourage them to watch other news channels besides fox when you have to cast a vote.

You are all weird with all this "casting a vote" thing. You know well that DC, MD and even VA don't vote red and they didn't. Your problem is the rest of the country. Ask yourself a question why the rest of the country voted the way they did, and I am going to argue that Dems simply pushed them too hard, a lot of these issues were not that important and those of us with moderate views and not taking radical sides had been warning repeatedly, dems did this to themselves. The rest of the country doesn't give a sh** about unemployment in DC or have any sympathy for fed workers or contractors who they regard as evil leeches stealing their hard earned money or at least lazy moochers. The sentiment on X is downright disgusting. It demoralizing even for me despite the fact that I've never worked for any gov functions and my employment is not affected by anything in DC metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My massage therapist is a Trump supporter, she claimed he will be good for small businesses. Past Sunday I scheduled a same day appointment because of some back issues and the place was empty (previously she barely had any open slots), she was very stressed because people have started cutting back on discretionary spending. I was thinking later on that people like her didn't think of anything or anyone else beyond their own myopic gains, now she can join feds and feel the pain of financial stress. I have no sympathy.

Yes, people will learn the hard way the severe consequences of following cult leader who doesn't care about working folks. Hopefully, these people will learn for next election. When they lose their businesses, that might encourage them to watch other news channels besides fox when you have to cast a vote.

You are all weird with all this "casting a vote" thing. You know well that DC, MD and even VA don't vote red and they didn't. Your problem is the rest of the country. Ask yourself a question why the rest of the country voted the way they did, and I am going to argue that Dems simply pushed them too hard, a lot of these issues were not that important and those of us with moderate views and not taking radical sides had been warning repeatedly, dems did this to themselves. The rest of the country doesn't give a sh** about unemployment in DC or have any sympathy for fed workers or contractors who they regard as evil leeches stealing their hard earned money or at least lazy moochers. The sentiment on X is downright disgusting. It demoralizing even for me despite the fact that I've never worked for any gov functions and my employment is not affected by anything in DC metro.

Two things can be correct at the same time. You both are right.