BY TED CUSHMAN
Contractors today are living
through some of the best business
times in history. Younger builders may
not remember the last recession
(1990-91), much less the one before
that (1982-84). But experienced pros
say the business cycle has always been
part of their working lives.
"As far back as the 1950s, every
recession I remember has been presaged
by a boom," says Seattle, Wash.,
remodeler Howard Portnow, whose
father and grandfather were builders.
"The worst of times are often preceded
by the best of times."
"If the economy doesn't turn
down," agrees Oakland, Calif., remodeler
Michael Luttrell, "it'll be the first
time in history it hasn't. The higher it
goes, the harder it falls."
Forecasting the future. Predicting
just when