Inflation and a looming recession have weighed heavily on local business owners and state leaders for months. And with good reason, as this week’s cover story and related PBN Economic Trends Summit report.
Inflation has steadily eaten away profit margins and curbed business activity, while prospects for an economic downturn continue to sap many pandemic-weary entrepreneurs of their trademark optimism.
According to panelists at the Jan. 26 summit, however, the only thing uncertain about a recession is when, not if, it will be coming.
So rather than waste time hoping it doesn’t happen, business owners and state leaders should prepare now for the inevitable.
Keynote speaker Thomas Tzitzouris, head of fixed-income research at Strategas Research Partners, says the state may already be in a recession. And if not, it likely will be – along with the rest of the country – by the summer.
The good news is it will not be as bad as the Great Recession, he says, in part because a population increase in the state should lessen the effects of an anticipated reduction in consumer spending.
For business owners, curbing unnecessary spending won’t be enough. Focus on boosting employee engagement and buy-in to meet the downturn head on.
For state leaders, record budget surpluses will soon be a memory. Plan for reduced revenue next year while continuing to invest wisely in promising growth areas, such as the blue economy, and Rhode Island may finally shed its stubborn first in, last out of recession reputation.
