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The article focuses on factors that impact the economy and the role they play in the effectiveness of fund-raising efforts. It is noted that identifying and nurturing prospective donors is hard work and time consuming, and the return on that investment is higher in a healthy economy. While it is true that there is nothing that is immediately alarming about the state of the economy, there are indicators that suggest all is not what is seems. The author in this article believes that bubbles in any market are never a good thing, but perhaps they are unavoidable, cyclical, and natural. He recounts that when the stock market bubble popped in the late 1990s, ripples were felt far and wide, even if only slightly. He witnessed a substantial donor become slow to uphold their philanthropic commitment. In many ways, he thinks the real estate market is in a similar situation today. He believes that a housing boom is not historically unprecedented, nor necessarily a bad thing. The most important concern for him about the current housing boom is the number of investors that are purchasing a property or properties other than a primary residence. Another concern is the manner by which buyers are coming by the money to make these purchases.

The article presents the author's views on library services. According to the author, many public institutions only focus on the portion of the budget that is earmarked for them. The author states that one should be persistent, and willing to look into every activity and service that the library performs.