Do you feel confused about what is happening in our country? Do you find it hard to make investment decisions? Well, you are not alone. Many in this country are struggling to make sense of what is going on. It doesn’t matter if you are a CEO or a retired widow, it’s hard to anticipate where we are headed. This uncertainty is causing investors and business owners to postpone decisions. It’s leading to a very slow, prolonged recovery.

Previous Federal Reserve officials have referred to times like this with statements like: “There seems to be a lack of transparency in the markets.” When you translate this into Main Street English, this means, “We have no earthly idea of what is going to happen next.”

From my perspective, from talking to businessmen and -women all over this country almost every week for the past 14 years, here are the key “Issues of Our Time” that are causing concern.

Are we headed for inflation or deflation? This question is very perplexing because the markets are giving off strong and conflicting signals. Many know that banks have enormous excess reserves that could be deployed to make loans. This could lead to inflation. Gold at $1,600 seems to confirm this viewpoint. But the 10-year treasury bond rate has fallen to 2.9 percent. People buy bonds when they think inflation is going to be low or they might actually experience deflation. Who is right, the gold buyers or the bond buyers?

Are we going to continue the very modest recovery from the recent recession, or are we going to slide back into another recession? Corporate profits are up and the private sector has been hiring. Government layoffs have offset most of the private sector gains. Companies have about $2 trillion in cash on their balance sheets. When will they deploy it? What are they waiting for? How can we staunch the drain of American wealth to China? Will we outsource all of our IT jobs to India? Where will U.S. companies find engineers this year?

Will the federal government begin the struggle to return to a balanced budget? Gold buyers are betting they won’t. Bond buyers are betting they will. Who’s right? Clearly the current trends in government spending cannot continue. But there are a lot of people in America who rely on the federal government for their jobs and/or their incomes. If everyone doesn’t share in the sacrifice, then nobody will want to share in the sacrifice.

When will the residential real estate market rebound? People still want to live in homes. Mortgage rates are ridiculously low, creating an incredible buying opportunity. What’s holding them back? Some are worried about losing their job. Others are worried that home prices could fall further. How long will it take the large banks in our country to foreclose on the delinquent loans? As long as this “shadow inventory” overhangs the market, buyers will be nervous. The sooner we foreclose on these properties, the quicker the housing market starts to recover.

How far will the rebound in commercial real estate go? Trophy properties in gateway cities have rebounded almost to the highs of the market peak in 2007. But properties in smaller cities and Class B and C properties are having a hard time getting bids. For some properties you can get 70 percent financing at low rates, while other properties are denied. Billions of investor dollars are prowling the country looking for deals.

Why do investors like to put money to work in Texas real estate? As I travel around the country, I’ve met lots of private equity firms and high-net-worth individuals that may live in New York, Boston or Laguna Beach and want to own Texas real estate. The long-term outlook for Texas is strong, with population and job growth on the horizon. Houses will need to be built. Shopping centers and offices will come with the houses. Construction jobs will play a role in the future recovery as Texas leads the country out of recession.

In coming posts, I will answer these questions and other pressing Issues of Our Time in more detail.