News

Recession Briefing 9.18: The Mood of Skylines

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

It is said that the skyline of a great city tells you a lot about its mood. In times of wealth, it soars higher and higher, buildings compete to be the biggest and the best. In bad times, the skyline stays cautiously still. (BBC)

The nation is on a grimmer track, and the fall television season echoes that mood shift. But while almost all of these new shows reflect the economy, they do so indirectly. (New York Times)

“Trying to challenge Ben Bernanke’s job performance is like trying to convince your average ancient Greek that Zeus was a bumbling weakling,” writes George Selgin. (Christian Science Monitor)

Jobless Americans in high-unemployment states would see their benefits extended for another 13 weeks under legislation to be considered by Congress next Wednesday. (CNN/Money)

The net worth of American households grew between April and July, the first quarterly gain in nearly two years, boosted largely by rising stock and home prices, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. (Washington Post)

The Obama administration is engaged in high-level talks about providing financial assistance to homeowners who’ve lost their jobs and can’t afford their mortgage payments. (USA Today)

Many major U.S. cities are facing their worst fiscal crises in years, experts say. And while surveys show that most municipal budgets are under pressure, big cities seem to be facing the most severe problems. (Wall Street Journal)

Joseph Stiglitz. The Nobel-winning economist, paints a picture of a U.S. economy that has stanched the most serious bleeding but remains deeply wounded. “I think we would be lucky to be out of the recession by 2012,” Stiglitz says. (Daily Finance)

Now that the finance bubble has deflated, hundreds of thousands of the industry’s employees are looking for other work and new graduates are looking elsewhere for careers. (Wall Street Journal)

Britain could be out of recession in six or nine months but the road to recovery could be long and slow, Bank of England policy maker David Miles said in an interview published on Friday. (Reuters)

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