- ..,~.- - , - r~r - PAGE SEVEN' Con-ventional wisdom is acrock '¶Bu ly low, seli high," the. expert says after the second rught. He must b. an- economie expert; I pay for ail drinks. "Buy anid seli, what?" 1 reply. The exé t its back seita the rim of hie glass. His leather acet cr.aks. I bink it is the. jacket.. 'Tind out what everybody is doing," he replies final]y Then do the. opposite." l I think that one over. "Explain. "Okay,"h. replies. 'The, real estate market is buat, right? "Weil, sales are down. But some people are buying." "Look " he says, patiently. "Four years ago in the real esýtt boom, prices were high, everybody was buying, right?." I nod. "Now prices are down, people are reluctant te, buy." Aain I nod. matbuyers do the opposite. When prices are high,and everyone wants in, that's the Urne to, &et out. 8.11. When the prices are downÎ, and the market is slow, that's the. tixne te buy." "Corne on." "What would have happened had you sold your houa. three yeara ago for what the. market would ftch?",. "?d have' sold it for, maybe two twenty, thereabouts." "And if you went te buy that same houa. now?" 'T1h. appri*ser says on. sixty-five." Ti.epert orders another round. '"Yuoudhv made let's see, two twenty minus one aixty-fivel, that's fifty-fËve thousand minus coats, real estate fées, rnaybe fifteen thousand altogher. Profit, forty thousand. l If I had a crystal bail. "1 told you this three y.ars ago but you wouldn't listen." I hate gays lik. this. He's right. "What if eveiybody did that? Then where would we b.?" "Wliere we would be," ts e yst expert, " la at middle of a stable maret wýithout booms and busts." "Are you seying"Ire ","t, heti key te our whole' econorny is an enligktned and informed public?" He looks me in the. eye. "Neyer thou*t of it that way. Mgybe in the. same way that enhightened and informed- spectaters at ahockeçy match make for'a botter brand of hockey. Look, what do the. experts teil us are the answera téte recession? Don't hurt your brain, Ill tell you. "First, if consurners spent more, the, recession would b. over. "Second, consulmera ahouid seve for a rainy day: retirement, RRSP, whatever. Third, consumera should reduce debt." I nod. "Sounds good te, me." 'Think for a moment. Firat, if consumera spent more, merchanta wouldn't have their recession. And manufacturers wouldn't have te lay people off. Hah! Iviake saving and paying off debt. Money is 1k. time, you can only spend it once. If you spend on consumer items, then that!s money you can't Bave, and thatfs the same rnoney y ou can't now use te pay down our credit carda. That'd b. 1k. ahooting pool with rope "What are you. aaying?" I arn now confuised. "Convention-al wisdorn- is a crock. If consumera had the monte either buy, seve or retire debta, they'd b. doing it. Remember those heady days of the. eighties when banka just couldn't lan y ou enougli money? What they'd saa 'Are you sure that's enoughb? Woul'd you like- another credit card? Here, talc. sorne more. Rmember those days?" "1 do." "Way I figure it banka created this mess we're la. At home. Around tle world. They just had too much money on hand and had te invest it sornewhere. Now that those loans are turning bad, of course, we're lnaa recession. Blaii it on consumera is 1ke blaming thie NHL atrike on hockey fans. Nobody expected the. fans te end that mess, did they? Really?" i ~ i WITBY JUNCTION ffAINON, C. 1911 This railway station, now the Wbitby Arts Station Galey was located near the. it. of the. present GOTransit station. In 1969 it was clo.ed 0and, a year later, it was moved totthe corner of Victoria and Henry Streets. It wasa built la 1903. - Whidir Arddve. photo 10, TEARS ADO from the. WednesdaApri 1, 1982 edition of the. " A new Denis O'onnor Hligh School is te b. built la 1983 at a cost of $3.3 million. " Education taxes have risen by 12.5 per cent for 1982. " Durham Region council bas been told the, auto industry la dying a slow deatb, by UAW officiaIs. " Thirteen choirs frorn across Ontario wiii participate in a choir festival at Iroquois Park arena on -May 8. 85 YEABS AGO from the 'flIurday, AJril 251957 edition of the Wurisr EZLYNEWS *A public Park is proposed for land east of YHiller Street. * Lv. Martin Vrieze, laid the. corneratone for the. Hébron Christian ]ReformedChurcli on Aprdl22. " Construction on the. new Ontario County Jafi on Victoria Street bas begun. " Dr. Cam MacKay wMilestablial a veteinaiy hospital on, Dundas Street Est. 100 YEARS A(X frm thi. %dà Apdrl 22, 1892 edition of the WTYCHRONICLE " Brooklin nu longr lias a tiflsJfith. " A five-year-old Wo brokea bis legwbHie playing around tii. turntable at the. raiway engin. houme at Mary and Hickory 8tret. oa " The watering of the. Town sttsa as begum to keep down the. dust " A Toroto company bas offered to number ail residanm inl Whitby with street address WIMfBY FREEPRF.RS. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22.0 1992s PAGE 7I