The story the local media doesn't like to report: Kansas City, the stock market crash and the recession!!!

Black days are on the horizon. And I don't mean that in a good sense involving the wonderful era of soul music merging with just a bit disco during my 70's childhood with the sounds of Al Green and Stevie Wonder.

Remember just a few days ago The Star predicted that this year would bring "economic resiliency" and not the bad tidings that everyone else was predicting?

Economic forecast sees resiliency, not recession, in 2008

The headline not only seems stupid in retrospect but almost negligent in the way that it misled readers about the reality the current global economic situation and its impact on Kansas City.

Younger or broke readers may not care but a lot of folks desperately watching their 401k fritter away might have noticed the sharp downturn in the stock market during the past couple of weeks.

Stocks Plunge as Economic Worries Grow

It gets worse. The economic downturn that we're in not only has a rookie at the helm of the Fed but also takes place at a time when oil prices are about to go sky high.

Oil Rises on Weak Dollar, Supply View

And if folks think that I'm just being gloomy, it's worth noting that people are betting big money on the fact that oil prices are soon going to be out of control.

Speculators bet on $200-a-barrel oil

People said that folks who were betting on oil at 100 bucks a barrel were crazy but here we are . . . That fact that oil and ensuing gas prices could double puts a cold chill up the spine of everyone who understand that those prices affect EVERYTHING.

Amid these dire warning signs about the state of the global economy, folks would have done well to take TKC's advice about buying gold.

Gold prices hit all-time record over US$875 an ounce amid rising oil prices

Flight to gold when investors lose faith in cash



But for most of us this economic data is hard to directly apply to our lives. It makes a difference regardless of our ability to understand it.

For Electric Avenue the dismal financial forecast spells doom!!!

I don't personally know the geniuses were who devised a luxury restaurant and shopping area to open in the middle of a recession but they obviously didn't count on public belt tightening. The P&L District couldn't have planned worse timing and the global recession will also lay waste to so many other downtown pipe dreams. People will not only be less inclined to buy pricey concert tickets at The Sprint Center but voting for expensive light rail won't seem like much of an option either given that Kansas City lacks the density to make mass transit work effectively and the sprawled nature of KC works against the basic principles that make rail work in other towns.

Meanwhile The Star and so many other media outlets will continue to turn a blind eye toward worsening economic conditions and propagate the child-like myth that Kansas City exists in some kind of economic vacuum. Nothing could be further from the truth. Hard times are coming to Kansas City for a greater number of people (i.e. the white middle-class) and it'll happen even if the local media don't like talking about it . . . News anchors can smile through a recession but it won't help the bottom line of their audience.

Still, it's worth noting for all realists in the City that the current recession marks an end to the downtown renaissance. The worsening economic climate will bring a shortfall in tax revenue soon enough and given that Kansas City is already maxed out with bonds and all kinds of credit card bills we've run up . . . Services will undoubtedly have to be scaled back at some point.

The relative prosperity this country and this town has seen for years couldn't go on forever. We're entering a new economic cycle that could last years if not decades and Kansas City is sure to feel the consequences.