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A few months ago we discovered that lending institutions had apparently been offering home and business property loans for many years to people who were high credit risks. The risky loans were then bundled together and sold to other investors. As people began to default on their individual loans, investors discovered that their 'bundles' were becoming much less valuable.

Problems caused by a defaulted home loan on Main Street in USA would seem to have little relationship to anything happening in Asia or Europe, but it does.  Banking institutions are interconnected worldwide. The 'bundles' were not only purchased domestically, but also by investors around the world. The end result has been a worldwide loss in confidence both in the private and industrial sectors causing a business slowdown affecting every part of the civilized world.

During the first forty years of my life I saw very little of the world and never traveled more than a few hundred miles away from Chicago, Illinois. I then began working for a European lock company and took my first trip abroad. What I found was people with the same desires, values and aspirations as we have in America. In subsequent trips to Ireland, Italy, Great Britain and Finland, my opinion has not changed. Except for some European architecture, I could have been in Denver or St. Louis.

Locksmiths can especially notice the world getting 'smaller'. Overseas companies such as Assa Abloy and Kaba furnish many of the security products we sell. Approximately 50% of the vehicles sold in USA are from overseas manufacturers. Many domestic lock companies have manufacturing facilities in other countries.

This interconnecting of products and information is beneficial to everyone. I remember discussing Ilco Simplex locks several years ago with a group of locksmiths in Ireland. High security products such as Medeco are just as popular in Asia, Europe and South America as they are in the USA. It is a two-way street with security products flowing in both directions.