Last week produced more economic bad news: chain store and vehicle sales down, a labor market in self-reinforcing decline. The data is dismal. Our lead article in this issue on construction markets indicates that many expect a tough year ahead before improvement. The severity holds parallels to what industrial distributors went through eight years ago.
 
So this is where I have to say the sky is not falling. The feedback we are hearing, including at the recent Power Transmission Distributors Association meeting, doesn’t match the TV chatter regarding the economy.
 
The general consensus across industrial sectors is this: Most distributors and manufacturers expect a flat to 5 percent decline in sales for 2009. The only sector falling off a cliff so far is …