Micah Sifry › Comments

Four Rs. Retrench, Review, Recover, Renew. How long that takes is the mystery. - Andrew Leyden

as Jason mentioned, 3 months of living expenses should be the norm for everyone. the problem is that hardly anyone in america saves. - Jonathan Jesse

also not spending money we don't have on credit. the problem though is by doing this can help keep the "economy" down as well - Jonathan Jesse

when you buy, buy local. keeping your cash circulating locally will help improve economic conditions in your home town. - MikeAmundsen

we need to 1) get re-focused on actual business models add value that someone will want to pay for 2) find a way to entice investors to invest in SMB - SMB always leads recovery - Brian Roy

This is a GOOD discussion to have...thanks Robert. We all need to really think carefully about what's best for our families, communities and country with regard to any potential economic woes, and hopefully not - but possible - a depression - Susan Beebe

Support your local mom-&-pop businesses. Establish business relations with them. Network, network, network. - imabonehead

another angle: what things can web-folks do to use tech to make life better for folks who are in a bad way? kiva-type sites? sites that help business get buy on less thru co-op? sites that help helping-orgs reach more donors as well as more folks in need? - MikeAmundsen

The best thing we can do as employees is to stay focused on growing our businesses, staying innovative and profitable. Regardless of the market, there will always be a need for differentiation and product leadership. The quest becomes how do you transition that into real revenue when budgets are tight. Having been at the same company for eight years now, I weathered the first Bush... more... - Louis Gray

Hoard copper, tin, zinc, iron, steel, etc. It's inflation proof. - Jason Carreira

Cut unnecessary costs in your business. Another excellent thing you can do to successfully combat worries about economic depression, is to go out and help others, like the homeless. The life you save may well be your own. You help the homeless and you'll get a better natural high than putting in a grueling physical workout at the gym. - J. D. Ebberly

@JD: +1 - MikeAmundsen

Barter, network, form guilds, support local businesses, save, manage your debt, make sure your business model is actually a business model, blog, connect with your community so you stand out and people pick you over the competition. - Eric_T

Having 3 months worth of expenses saved is a good idea, but I don't think it will help you in a depression. - Alex Scoble

Cash is king in a depression.... - RHinNC from twhirl

Fear, my friends is not the best decision motivator in a time like this.. it only brings exactly what you're afraid of happening. Everyone getting scared and pulling out of their banks/investments will just speed up the crashing process. - Maria

Were not anywhere near a depresion tho, so far the only sector affected is the financial sector. All others are healthy. - RHinNC from twhirl

@RHinNC the problem is the financial sector isn't lending others in the sector money. cash isn't flowing as quickly around as it used to - Jonathan Jesse

The financial sector is the only one effected? Go look at http://finance.google.com/finance - Jason Carreira

Take responsibility. we should stop being asleep at the wheel. Stop spending beyond our means to look like we have more than we have. Stop feeling entitled to XYZ amount of money. We will only make what the market can support so expect it to be lower and live with it. Start paying attention so we are aware and educated to make decisions. When was the last time you saw a large protest... more... - Patricia

For those with the ability lend money via services such as Zopa. For others use Zopa in preference to the banks for that loan needed to renovate the house or start a business. - We need to rebuild the whole financial system from the ground up as Umair (http://www.bubblegeneration.com) using the technology and skills that we have. - Simon Cast

science, engineering - we’re going to need to build real things. our biggest export can’t just be debt. this will take a lot of time, but if you’re a parent - exposing your kids to science, engineering, electronics, computer programming is an investment that will actually pay off. so my challenge to “Techcrunch, GigaOm, ReadWriteWeb, Center Networks, Mashable” would be for them to cover some of the cool and interesting people/companies that make things. we are what we celebrate… - make

Hoard canned food which does not require refrigeration. - Paul Denlinger

I think we will see people going back to school, CS degree enrollments are way up this fall off historical lows. Great for colleges (full disclosure, I teach). - Dan Morrill AKA Techwag

I think there's a lot of things as individuals we can do: live within our means. Shop local. Eat local food. Go to the farmer's market. Buy handmade. Buy American. Spending a little money now to greenify to save money later over the winter when energy bills go up. The latter is something I personally plan to focus upon; I live in a 99 year old house with 99 (and 40) year old windows. That needs to change so what little savings we have don't go out the window, literally. - Amie Gillingham

This is the moment when economic neccessity and climate issues should help all of us reevaluate our consumerism. - susan mernit

Posts like this one from Scoble are a good start. Focus on solutions instead of focusing blame. Come together rather than allowing politicians and talk show personalities to further divide us. Don't let panic cloud judgment. - Howard Keziah

Start a movement, so that instead of government trying to bailout the banks and financial institution, let the goverment subsidize the gas and electiricity. That will provide buying power for the middle class. - Ranjith Antony

Most importantly, stay calm and try to maintain some sense of personal balance. Yes, it's hard in this difficult environment, but a relaxed mind makes every problem more manageable. - Michael Krigsman

I can write this up in a blog post with more details if people are interested - but at SmugMug, we're looking at this optimistically. Our business is solid and strong, so we think that A) a downturn will harm or eliminate many of our competitors, and B) we'll be able to load up on engineering talent. In essence, we think we'll double-down as things get harder so we're really ready to rumble when they perk back up. - Don MacAskill

Don, at one point you wrote that competitors folding hurt you because it made all photo-sharing sites look worse. Is this still the case? - Bruce Lewis from fftogo

what the western governments are doing right now is exactly what communist/socialist governments were always doing, we are heading to socialism here my friends, they will convince you that this is still capitalism but it is not, the capitalism as we know it is over... - Dorian Tireli

Neat to see you all rising up to lock the barn door now... - Anthony Citrano