47
COMMENT
Who’s who at the
Specialized Carriers
& Rigging Association
CHAIRMAN
Michael Battaini
Sheedy Drayage
San Francisco, CA
PRESIDENT
Ron Montgomery
Intermountain Rigging & Heavy Haul
Salt Lake City, UT
VICE PRESIDENT
Alan Barnhart
Barnhart Crane and Rigging
Memphis, TN
TREASURER
Delynn Burkhalter
Burkhalter
Columbus, MS
ASSISTANT TREASURER
Bruce Forster
Rigging Gear Sales
Dixon, IL
ALLIED INDUSTRIES GROUP CHAIRMAN
David Wittwer,
Hays Companies
Salt Lake City, UT
CRANE & RIGGING GROUP CHAIRMAN
David Cowley,
TNT Crane & Rigging
Longview, TX
LADIES GROUP CHAIRWOMAN
Cathy Moore,
NBIS
Atlanta, GA
TRANSPORTATION GROUP CHAIRMAN
Geary Buchanan,
Buchanan Hauling &
Rigging
Fort Wayne, IN
SC&R FOUNDATION OFFICERS
President:
Robert Moore,
NBIS
Atlanta, GA
Vice president:
Stephanie Bragg,
Bragg Companies
Long Beach, CA
Treasurer:
Jim Sever
PSC Crane & Rigging,
Piqua, OH
A
s of this month,
this country’s
national debt is
motoring towards $17 trillion ($16.7
trillion) – at 106 percent of the $15.8
trillion economy. The population of
the United States is approximately
316,000,000, which in theory, leaves each
citizen of this country responsible for
approximately $53,000 of that debt. Not
exactly refreshing, to say the least.
Since September of 2012, the national
debt has continued to rise at a rate of
about $2.7 billion per day. To better wrap
your mind around that number, let’s
measure it in units of time. If you went
on vacation for a million seconds, you’d
be gone for 11.5 days. If you decided to
go for a billion seconds, well, you’d better
pack an extra carry-on. You wouldn’t
return for 31.5 years. We hear these
numbers thrown around to the extent
that most of the country’s attention span
for this increasing spiral of data gets lost
in the translation that only the experts
seem to appreciate.
Continually increasing
Historically speaking, U.S. debt as a share
of GDP traditionally increases during
wars and recessions, and then declines.
Public debt peaked following World War
II and then fell for the next 30 years.
However, recent decades have seen a
budget deficit potency and progression
in this country that compels leaders in
many of the nation’s strongest industries
to question the sustainability of the
government’s economic policies. Funding
two wars in the last ten years hasn’t
exactly played a role in debt reduction in
the U.S., but the federal government has
a bigger problem on its hands – in the
form of paying interest on the interest of
its debt.
Every year, our government owes
interest on its debt, and every year, the
interest owed this year is added to the
current deficit, and ends up becoming a
part of next year’s increasing debt. Next
year, the interest is higher because the
debt is higher, and it goes on like this.
But as we all know, it can’t go on like
this forever. And fortunately, there is an
emerging line of statistics that whispers
of a shift, even if just slightly.
We’ve seen the impacts of this debt
on our industry in countless areas in
recent years – particularly, cutbacks
in government infrastructure funding
and the continued slow growth of
construction as a result of the housing
crisis. But recent trends, while not worthy
of the word “recovery,” have certainly
indicated growth in our industry.
Employment optimism
As of May (2013), construction
unemployment rates have fallen to 10.8
percent, the lowest rate since October
2008 – including 7,000 jobs added
during the month. With the exception of
nonresidential building, which lost 2,600
jobs in May, construction job gains were
evident in nearly every industry sector.
Residential special trade contractors led
the way with 4,600 jobs. Since 2009, the
annual rate of home construction has
increased by about 60 percent, while
businesses have increased spending by 27
percent. In that time period, nearly six
million U.S. jobs have been created.
Obviously, there’s never a guarantee that
growth, even at a sluggish 2.2 percent
over the last three years, will sustain itself
and/or continue to rise. Government
spending cuts could have a major impact
on any progress we’re seeing at present.
But for the first time since 2007 (before
the recession), the U.S. Treasury set
itself up to make a down payment on the
national debt. The Treasury intended to
pay off $35 billion in the second quarter
– especially notable when considering
it had originally anticipated borrowing
$103 billion. Industry leaders would
like to think that this is a sign of things
to come for both the country, and as a
result, our industry.
■
JULY 2013
ACT
Two different sides of our
complicated coin.
Debt level
worrisome
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Joel Dandrea
5870 Trinity Centre
Parkway, Suite 200
Centreville, VA 20120
Ph: 703-698-0291
Fax: 703-698-0297
