News

Recession Briefing: 3.13

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

The wealth of American families dropped by almost 18% in 2008, liquidating $11 trillion in net worth. This is the biggest loss since the Fed started keeping track after the Second World War. (Wall Street Journal)

President Barack Obama yesterday said that the economic crisis is actually “not as bad as we think.” He said Americans shouldn’t be swayed by bursts of either bad or good news, and that he was “highly optimistic.” (Associated Press)

Stocks continued to rally yesterday, sending indexes 10 to 12 percent above their Monday lows, as investors saw glimmers of hope that the decline may be slowing down. (New York Times)

Taking a different approach from the U.S., European governments are spurning calls for further economic stimulus. “Europe has done what it needed to do,” says Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker. (Time)

In an appearance on the Daily Show last night, CNBC’s Jim Cramer was hammered by Jon Stewart for his incorrect predictions and bad advice for investors over the past year as the economy fell into recession. (Huffington Post)

With such a volatile market, how can you tell whether or not you should fire your financial advisor? Brett Arends writes that there is a right way — and a very wrong way — for someone to lose your money. (Wall Street Journal)

Sramana Mitra looks at one area that might be ripe for recession entrepreneurship: online education and distance learning. (Forbes)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday that there won’t be a second stimulus package coming from the Federal Government anytime soon. (Washington Post)

Sam Jones takes a look at why the Lehman Brothers collapse went so far toward crushing the economy — and how the government’s decision not to prevent that from happening was itself a failure. (Financial Times/Alphaville)

It’s becoming clear that there will be an increasingly large global unemployment crisis in the coming months and years, and governments will need to fashion flexible solutions in order to lessen the misery. (Economist)