Lasting Lessons from the Recession

We’ve all gotten schooled in some way by the recession. Maybe it was a shock to learn that she loved your money more than she loved you. Perhaps the interest-only mortgage wasn’t as great a deal as it seemed. Or it might have been a good idea to have some money in the bank, in case your job evaporated.

It’s been a hard education for some of us. But once we have new homes or new jobs, and our financial situations are back on track, will we remember what welearned? Here are five lessons we hope will outlast the recession, the recovery and beyond:

1. Bad things can happen to good careers. A lot of talented, experienced, hard-working people lost jobs in this recession. (And some of them, we hope, are getting hired again.) The question is not why you, but what’s next?

2. You can live on less than you think…

Recession Lexicon: Putpockets

/n. From the Department of Strange but True: Aware of how people have been hit by the downturn, former pickpockets who are giving back by slipping cash into the pockets of unsuspecting pedestrians.

“It feels good to give something back for a change–and Britons certainly need it in the current economic climate,” Chris Fitch, a former pickpocket who is running the operation, told Reuters a couple of weeks ago…

Television Takes on the Recession (Video)

It was just a matter of time before the recession and its effects made their way beyond the late-night talk shows. HuffPo has a slide show of how popular programs like the Simpsons and Desperate Housewives are incorporating the downturn into plot lines. Plus, there videos of new shows — like this truly terrible-looking one starring Kelsey Grammar as an ousted CEO who has move back to Virginia with his bratty family. Then there’s AMC’s Breaking Bad — practically a self parody — in which a high school teacher starts a meth lab to make money for his family.

For once, we can’t think of an upside. Check them out after the jump…

Recession Lexicon: Fretworking

/v. This word popped up on the Recessionwire-inspired contest that vocabularist Ben Schott held at the New York Times website last weekend. The “official” definition, offered by a reader who goes by Hotfrostins: Extreme networking driven by the fear of potential job loss…

Retooling: Affordable Art Keeps Gallery Afloat

Provenance be damned. These days the most important thing for gallery owners to master is the art of survival.

The art market—like everything else—has been in contraction for more than a year. Galleries are closing, and many are struggling.

But Jessica L. Porter, owner of a small gallery in New York City, started her business in a recession-friendly fashion. And in the downturn, she has figured out a way to keep people buying art…

Is it a Mancession or Isn’t It?

A few weeks ago we wrote about the reasons we shouldn’t be crowing about the “mancession”—among them, single moms are hurting and women have less choice about their jobs.

A new survey by Decitica offers new evidence that women are worse off than men in the downturn. Sort of. The market strategy and research firm says that their poll of more than 1,000 people showed that “more women than men are depressed, scared, worried and stressed.”…

A House Used to Own Me

I used to own a house. Or, rather, a house owned me. A three- bedroom, 1.75-bath, mid-century modern home on a ridge in Los Angeles, Calif. with views that fed the soul. From the first moment we stepped through the front door, I belonged to this house.

Now? Well, now I sit on a couch in a basement surrounded by our stuff—what’s left of it. Piles of folded clothes, garbage bags stuffed with hats and purses and shoes, sleeping bags and electronic equipment. Books and boxes. My laptop. In my lap. This basement belongs to my mom and stepdad. It is located in Barrington, Ill., 2,014 miles away from the place we called home for the last seven years until we, narrowly avoiding foreclosure, sold everything and hit the road. I am 34 and I, with my husband, our pug dog and what is left of our belongings, have moved back in with my parents

This is not a sad story. This is anything but…

The Recession Lexicon Competition at the New York Times

There have been some very smart and funny responses to the competition word maven Ben Schott has been holding this weekend at his New York Times blog. Inspired by Recessionwire’s Recession Lexicon, he asked readers to submit new, downturn-related words and phrases. Some of the early standouts are below. Thanks to Ben and his many fans!

grayoff: firing older workers to hire younger, cheaper labor in their place

cabeer: when one turns to alcohol to deal with a job loss they are starting a new cabeer…

Recession Lexicon: Vicarication

n./ Staycations are so 2008. This year, the trendy way to travel is vicariously, through other people’s adventures. Whether you’re unemployed and running out of savings or are working so hard to keep your job that you can’t take time off, it’s an easy way to save on airfare!

We heard this one from our friend…

Who’s Got It the Worst? Finally, the Answer.

Things may be turning around in some areas of the economy, but some demographics are still feeling the heat more than others. Here’s how it shakes out:

Age: Although workers of all ages have been impacted by the recession, statistics show that those over the age of 60 have been hurt worse than anyone else. In the past, older workers would retire if their career headed south. Nowadays, however, with 401Ks dwindling, more and more 60+ workers have joined the unemployment line and started looking for new work.

Race: Blacks and Hispanics have lost significantly more jobs since the recession began than whites. Overall, the unemployment rate for black workers is double that of white employees, with the national unemployment rate hovering at 15 percent for blacks and 12.7 percent for Hispanics, versus 9.5 percent overall.

Gender: It’s not called a “mancession” for nothing…