Laura Rich
The Recession Will End… No Time Soon
Says who: Paul Ashworth, a senior economist at Capital Economics
“A few months ago, the U.S. was in the throes of the most severe recession since the 1930s,” said Paul Ashworth, a senior economist at Capital Economics. “We’ve had some improvement, but . . . we’re still nowhere near a meaningful recovery or even a slight recovery.” (Washington Post)
Why it might be false: The evidence that the economy is improving can be convincing: a manufacturing report Monday beat expectations and indicated some growth; pending home sales rose 6.7 percent in April; and the stock market hit its highest point Monday for all of 2009. And it doesn’t hurt that the good weather seems to bring with it all kinds of hope and promise…
Mad Libs for Saving Money
Our friends at Wisebread, the funnest frugal living site we know, posted this little contest earlier this week to find out what kinds of spending trade-offs the recession had inspired. (On Recessionwire, we call these dilemmas “Recession Concessions.”)
Wisebread asked readers to fill in the blanks: “I used to _____, but now I ____ to save money.” A handful of the 144 responses are below. Read them all here.
“I used to leave my electronics running on power supply, now I charge them in the office and run them on batteries to save money.”
“I used to spend money on gas getting to and from work. But now that my company has gone belly up and I’m unemployed, I’m staying at home and saving all that gas money!”
“I used to have no idea where my money went every month but now I write down *every* expense.”…
Love in the Time of Layoff: 5 Dating Tips for the Recession
First dates at Le Cirque and second dates in St. Barth’s are out (for me, and maybe you, they were never in, but you get the point). Everyone’s feeling pressure on their wallets, and so for a lot of folks, that means pressure on the dating budget. What are the dating experts advocating in the downturn?
Mainly: Be cheap and be wary. Be very wary.
We don’t really agree with the sentiment of “being cheap” – no one should blow their wad on a few casual dates, of course, but a relationship is an investment and “being cheap” might not be a great way to start. But who are we to say?
Here’s how the pros see it:
* Curb your dating. According to dating expert David Wygant, there are some compulsive daters out there…
Tim Ferriss, 15% Off
Just the other day, I disparaged 4-Hour Workweek author Tim Ferriss for being part of the problem of the boom times. But maybe I was wrong. Ferriss is due to headline the upcoming Mediabistro Circus conference next week and he’ll be talking about using social media and blogging to help you succeed. Let me tell you – social media and blogging ain’t four hours per week. Try four hours per daypart. If that’s not a move away from the shortcuts of the last several years, I’m not sure what is…
We’ll be on hand to blog or Tweet (or — both!) Ferriss’s speech. You can come, too, with this discount from the Mediabistro folks:
The Recession Was Brought to You by the Letter…
C! As in Citigroup. Since General Motors is going bankrupters, it could get dropped from the Dow Jones Index, along with, possibly, Citibank – “C” in stock symbol-speak.
You may also have noticed plenty of…
L! I personally like this letter, am a big fan, except when it comes to recessions, for which “L” is the “shape” many economists have described for how our economy is going to trend through this recession.
Or V! As in, a steep tumble and a steep rise out of the recession, possibly later this year. To be followed by, some predict, a “double dip,” which means the letter…
The Recession Will End… Q309
Says who: National Association for Business Economics
The NABE surveyed leading forecasters to come to this conclusion. From USA Today: “About 74% of the forecasters expect the recession — which started in December 2007 and is the longest since World War II — to end in the third quarter. Another 19% predict the turning point will come in the final three months of this year, and the remaining 7% believe the recession will end in the first quarter of 2010.”
Why it might be crap: Unemployment is still expected to climb through the end of the year, and many other signs remain wobbly: Housing starts and foreclosures are inconsistent; banks are still carrying toxic debt; credit is still…
Domestic Violence and Money
This isn’t the happiest of news, nor all that new, but we thought it important to participate in the coverage of a report by cosmetics maker Mary Kay that shows an uptick in domestic violence related to financial woes.
From the study, in which 600 shelters were polled:
- Seventy-three percent of shelter representatives attribute the rise in abuse to “financial issues.”
- “Stress” and “job loss” (61 percent and 49 percent, respectively) also proved to be leading contributing factors in the reported increase in domestic violence cases involving women…
Should I Trade My White Collar for Blue?
After reading Matthew B. Crawford’s sometimes cantankerous essay in defense of his blue-collar profession in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, I felt inspired. Crawford described how he’d attempted with valor the white-collar route – advanced degrees, prestigious appointments – but resolved that for him, the more rewarding work came through his hands. So he’d become a high-end motorcycle repair specialist.
As Crawford notes, white-collar jobs are not exactly where it’s at right now. Even the Princeton economist Alan Blinder has lined up behind tradesman jobs, Crawford notes, because, “‘You can’t hammer a nail over the Internet.’ Nor can the Indians fix your car. Because they are in India.”
His story made me want to start that lamp-making business I’ve fantasized about. I began researching, hastily Googling – what are the margins? where could I sell them? where could I get low-cost materials? – but concluded that the financial motive wasn’t there for me…
Recession Lexicon: Brokavore
/n. Foodies who are low on cash aren’t just your ordinary brand of foodies: they’re “brokavores.” So says the brilliant new site Brokelyn, started by writer Faye Penn. A takeoff on “locavore,” someone who eats locally grown or produced food, a brokavore is “an obsessively cheap but highly discerning eater.”
ex. The brokavore sought out hot dog stands, pretzel vendors, shawarma trucks and taco joints for local delights.
When Credit, Not Cash, is King
It might seem strange, in a downturn pinched by a credit crunch, to suggest thinking about credit. But the lag between delivery and payment – that time when you’re waiting on customers and your suppliers are waiting on you — is nothing new. But in tough times, it can get worse, as the domino effect of cash flow hits your supplier – and then you. No doubt you have some reserves on hand (right?) for rainy days like this. But don’t forget about credit – not just a business credit line, but an ongoing business credit card that you can use in a pinch.
There are advantages to both cash and credit, but don’t forget, use of credit can help keep your credit history in good standing, even if you’d rather keep the debt to a minimum in these times. Here are four tips for using credit to help you manage your cash flow and get back to the work of delivering great products and services…
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