Comments on: Web 2.0 can reverse the recession? Don’t think so…

By: A sinking tide lowers all ships, including “HMS Web 2.0″ « Indie 2.0

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:09:41 +0000

[...] what I wrote in this blog in January 2008, in response to a blog article touting Web 2.0 as an antidote for economic recession: A stock [...]

By: The FASTForward Blog » Debate over the potential role of Web 2.0 in a down economy: Enterprise 2.0 Blog: News, Coverage, and Commentary

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:23:43 +0000

[...] is a bit more pessimistic, and said my thinking was based on ‘irrationally exuberant’ boosterism and pollyannishness: “A stock market crash is going to sink Web 2.0 ships, just as surely as it sinks others. And [...]

By: Dan Carew

Dan Carew — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 00:24:04 +0000

Hi Joe,

Thanks for the comment. But I still disagree on this one.

If a layoff is not caused by recession/depression (but rather by a single company or industry retrenching) then sure, for talented white collar knowledge workers, Web 2.0 tools (a la LinkedIn, Amazon Web Store & Services, etc.) will be helpful.

But if a depression or deep recession hits, even if your business idea requires little or no capital:

*Consumers won’t have extra cash to buy the clever non-essential item you’re selling on eBay or a web store.

*Companies will be retrenching and won’t be hiring consultants.

*The same problem (no one interested in buying your goods or services) will exist around the globe. (As a Chinese finance minister said yesterday in Davos, paraphrased, ‘when the U.S. sneezes, we still feel bad and get sick’.)

Only in an economy doing reasonably well would a rational person be “living on unemployment checks and hoping the company calls them back.” In past recessions and depressions and pre-internet, when you were laid off you hustled and took your fate in your hands: substitute teaching, selling dictionaries, taking odd jobs, becoming a migrant worker, doing something in the ‘grey’ economy, selling your writing, becoming a street vendor, working for the family business, driving a taxi, etc. etc.

By: Joe McKendrick

Joe McKendrick — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:54:44 +0000

Hi Dan, thanks for the link. I agree that macro-events tend to be out of our individual control. What I’m saying is that with new technology tools, people no longer need to be powerless in the face of adverse events, as they once were.

If and when layoffs hit (and we all know we don’t need a recession for that), people have more options to drive their own fate, versus living on unemployment checks and hoping the company calls them back.

People can remain well-connected to their professional networks, and leverage tools and potential opportunities that have not been readily available in times gone by. If you want to try to start a new business, the Web offers an abundance of ideas and opportunities — and visibility across the globe. Not a lot of start-up capital is required. The Web is an incredible global tool at our disposal, for very minimal cost.

Yes, small businesses will fail, but many fail even in the best of times. But consider even Microsoft — founded in April 1975, at the tail end of the worst recession in a generation — didn’t have the kinds of tools at its disposal that we now have.