When I first started studying economics here in the UK it was always said that the building trade was a predictor of where the economy was going. If it still true then we are heading for trouble:
Demand for concrete has fallen to its lowest level since 1963 in a serious blow to Labour’s hopes of building more houses.
The British concrete industry didn’t exactly cover itself with glory with it’s “innovative” aerated, or whatever they called it, concrete, in the 60s.
Steve
Hi Steve
The concrete crisis in the UK did have a humorous side to it:
The chairwoman of a powerful committee of MPs has recalled visiting a hospital where obese patients have to be treated on the ground floor because of fears they are too heavy to be safely moved up the building.
Simplifying, the Economy has two jobs:
Construction is labor intensive and very good at spreading the wealth.
In Portugal construction does both, much of the construction is for tourists which brings in hard cash. In Venezuela, during the good times, oil brought in hard currency while construction spread the wealth. After President Perez Jimenez was deposed (1958?) the first president elected promised to end the building of “white elephants,” major public works by Perez Jimenez. This crashed the economy and the new president reversed course ASAP which revived the economy and spread the wealth.
The Captain
You left out step A – creating the goods or services. Then comes sales…
DB2
Why state the obvious?
The Captain