News

Recession Briefing: 3.11

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

“Between 40 and 45 percent of the world’s wealth has been destroyed in little less than a year and a half,” said Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman yesterday. “This is absolutely unprecedented in our lifetime.” (Reuters)

President Obama is pushing other countries to do more to stimulate their own economies ahead of a G-20 meeting of finance ministers. His message to the world: we can’t do it alone. (Los Angeles Times)

Bernie Madoff will plead guilty to creating a Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of approximately $65 billion, and face life in prison. Questions remain about the involvement of his family members and employees in the scam. (New York Times)

While giant companies are drowning in the down economy, some small firms are thriving. “Whether making deals, planning ad campaigns, or signing talent, all small fish have the same slogan: lighter, cheaper, faster.”  (The Big Money)

New home builders are facing increased competition from foreclosures. Many buyers are bypassing new houses for foreclosed ones that are virtually new and are often located in the companies’ own developments. (Wall Street Journal)

Undaunted by the grim financial outlook, luxury goods makers are still rolling out big-ticket items. Marketers say that very rich people may still find expensive trinkets irresistible. (Forbes)

Companies across the country are cutting contributions to their employees’ retirement accounts. Even the AARP is suspending contributions to its staff 401(k) from March 22 for the rest of the year. (Financial Times)

“When it comes to lighting piles of money on fire, blowing up assets, and generally causing financial carnage, the rich have been going at one another ferociously,” writes Daniel Gross. (Newsweek)

Families are advised to keep six months’ or even nine months’ worth of expenses in a job loss emergency fund, but that may not be very realistic.  Sometimes borrowing from a credit card to tide you over isn’t a bad idea. (Wall Street Journal)

Bartender Eddie Doyle, an institution at the Boston bar Cheers — inspiration for the NBC television series — has been laid off. “I’m a casualty of the economic situation that we’re in,” said Doyle. (Boston Globe)