“IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID”

This is a phrase that was used heavily in American politics in 1992 as a way for the Clinton campaign to unseat George H. W. Bush (by the way, it was successful). In drawing attention away from Bush’s strengths in foreign policy and instead focusing on the recession that had just ended and its lingering effects, the Democrats resonated with the electorate and were able to defeat a popular incumbent. The phrase resonates today as we enter the second decade of the twenty-first century; it is still the economy. The evolution of countries in the Middle East, natural disasters in Asia—everything has economic ramifications.

There are two key factors to consider in understanding the direction of our collective economy and therefore our challenges in the world of sales: employment and capacity. Let’s take employment first. We recently lost some 7.5 million jobs in North America alone, leaving some 85 million “out of the workforce.” EU (European Union) countries have added some 23 million to the same ranks, and Asia and the Middle East have piled on tens of millions more. The totals you reach on any particular day depend on your source and the definitions used, but let’s turn data into usable information.