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Recession Briefing: Monkey See, Monkey Do

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

Dr. Laurie Santos’s studies of monkey “economics” suggest that greedy, loss-averse human behavior — the kind in large part responsible for the recession — may have deep evolutionary origins. (Big Think)

While the Great Recession was tough on just about everyone, rookie CEOs were faced with what will likely be the biggest crisis of their careers. Here’s how four of them handled it. (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)

The nation’s health insurers have come under sharp attack by the Obama administration for seeking seemingly staggering rate increases on policies they sell to individuals. But the weak economy and the unrelenting rise in the cost of medical care make it increasingly difficult for companies to avoid substantial rate increases. (New York Times)

“In the year since the stimulus bill was passed, it’s become more and more difficult for opponents to make the case against it,“ writes Daniel Gross. “And that opposition will get tougher still, because the stimulus has barely kicked into gear.” (Slate)

“What seems to me to be missing in the current unemployment crisis is the sense of outrage, of moral wrongness about unemployment that would bring it to the top of [the government's list of important issues],” writes Bo Cutter. (New Deal 2.0)

When you lose your job, the last thing you need is for your expenses to increase. Yet, atsome banks, that’s exactly what can happen with your checking account. (The Atlantic)

According to a news item, 10% of Los Angeles County’s 50,000 homeless are now sleeping in their cars each night. The car-dwelling population has now reached sufficient numbers to qualify for its own bureaucratic designation. Meet the “Vehicular Homeless.” (WalletPop)

We need “a commitment from the Obama administration to create 18 million new jobs over the remaining three years of the presidential term.” writes Robert Pollin. “This can be done by combining two broad types of initiatives: measures to buttress the economy’s floor and thereby prevent another 2008-type collapse, and measures to inject job-generating investments into the economy.” (The Nation)

President Barack Obama is expected to announce plans Friday to provide an additional $1.5 billion to a state-assistance program for homeowners worst hit by the downturn in U.S. housing values. (Wall Street Journal)

The Federal Reserve decided Thursday to boost the rate banks pay for emergency loans. The action is part of a broader move to pull back the extraordinary aid it provided to fight the financial crisis. (Associated Press)

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Tags: CEOs, health insurance, homeless, jobs, monkeys, stimulus