The world of finance has always been complex to me. I never did take the advice of a wealthy business man that told me to take an economics class once I get to college. As an older adult with life experiences I always share with others if I could go back to school (because I have won the lottery!) I would study economics and business. How does it all work? How has globalization influenced the cost of everyday items as well as luxury items and experiences?

Here’s what I know to be true: prices are up! There was a point when I was grocery shopping and was aghast to find the cost of a jar of Nutella to be ten dollars a jar. In my post, Recession or Nah?! I discuss the back and forth rhetoric of those whom present themselves as in the know whether or not we are in fact in a recession. Recession or not, the rising costs of everything is a common discussion among many. There were other times where I shook my head in disgust with the rising cost of deli meat as well as the veggie pouches my son adores. On a microcosmic level, I saw how the rise in inflation impacted my daily and monthly spending. I had to stop and really look at what I was spending and how I could maximize the most out of a salary that was relatively the same with the rising costs of everything else. Over and over again, I thanked my lucky stars I was no longer a commuter. For over ten years I trekked back and forth throughout Fairfield County, putting wear and tear on my car as well as shelling out a lot of money in gasoline. Although I no longer have to commute, I found myself really looking at my monthly expenses as the price of eggs soared to new heights and toddler essentials went up right along with it. I once wrote about the need for silence in order to create in this post Creativity Needs Silence. I still hold this to be true.

However, I have also learned that challenges within one’s own financial obligations coupled with outside factors will also breed creativity. Not only will art be born from silence, a stillness that allows one’s mind to wander and meander through the deepest depths of the mind, upset and chaos may also breed creativity as well. It is through challenges that many are forced to create, not for the sheer beauty of creativity, but rather for survival.

The recent bank bailout (that no one really wants to call a bank bailout) has many in the financial sector watching. The Federal Reserve continues to go back and forth with the raising and lowering of interests rates and apparently oversight of banking went out the window. What’s protected? What is not protected and at the end of the day, who will hold the consequences of such actions or some may argue inaction?

There may be a lack of appropriate oversight as it relates to what happened to Silicone Valley Bank. Jenna Smialek argues in A Big Question of the Fed.. that the Federal Reserve were essentially not paying close attention to the impact raising interest rates where having on an already volatile tech market. None-the-less, these new events have led many watching and waiting. Will this be the beginning of another round of controversial government bailouts? How does this impact the everyday people in America whom may not be so concerned with hundreds of thousands of dollars not being protected (simply because they do not have it) and more concerned with feeding their families, covering the cost of healthcare and affordable housing?

What are your thoughts dear reader? Have you found ways to be creative when it comes to doing things yourself you once paid for? Do you think the current banking times is reminiscent of the financial crisis of 2008? I am looking forward to your responses, blessings.