It's a question on many minds today 'When will the economy turn around?'
Two experts spoke about that in Myrtle Beach Friday, saying, the economy may never return to the what we think of as normal.
South Carolina State Treasurer Converse Chellis and noted economist Mark Vitner told Grand Strand business leaders, the economy has stopped sliding, but still a long way from full recovery. How long will it take in South Carolina? Chellis says that's anyone's guess.
"We could be back to normal in six to nine months. But more than likely, it'll take another 15 months to get us back out of this."
Vitner says when it does come back, all Americans may have to adjust to a new normal, of lower expectations and less spending.
"Maybe they don't go out to eat as much, maybe they don't replace their cars as soon as they would otherwise, maybe they wear their clothes a little bit longer before they replace them."
He says the days of easy credit are gone and that hurts Myrtle Beach, because tourists tend to pay for things with credit cards.
"And when folks come, they're not going to spend as much money and I think that's going to make it tough for a lot of the restaurants and retailers."
Vitner says in Horry County, home prices dropped further and the unemployment rate rose faster than the national average. And the jobless rate has not turned around.
"We could get as high as 14 percent statewide and that's going to hurt," said Vitner.
But there is a plus side. Vitner says the nation's economy is finally growing, probably close to four percent in the last quarter.
The state treasurer says he wouldn't consider the economy to be back to normal until unemployment is down near 5 percent.
