Recession Briefing: Crazy for Coupons

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

Coupon use has risen every quarter since the end of 2008, making 2009 the first year of rising coupon use since 1992. Last year, 3.5 billion coupons were redeemed, according to Inmar, a coupon processor that handles about half of the market and publishes figures extrapolated from its own volume. (New York Times)

When you’ve flooded the economy with trillions of dollars, mopping up is no easy task. That’s the reality the Federal Reserve is confronting as it starts to explain how it will undo the aggressive growth-supporting steps that were put in place when the economy was in its deep dive — and begins to be clearer about when that may happen. (Washington Post)

When 22 recently unemployed workers agreed to be filmed baring their souls about what it was like to lose his job, they didn’t expect millions to see their confessions in the George Clooney film Up in the Air. A year later, many of these recession victims have new jobs. (Reuters)…

Recession Briefing: Goodbye, Tavern on the Green

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

Despite extensive government intervention in the housing market, some policy makers at the Federal Reserve are worried that even more might need to be done. (New York Times)

The aftershocks from deep recessions reverberate for years, even decades, and take an enduring toll on everything from government finances to countless upended individual lives. What economist John Irons calls “economic scarring” will long serve as a reminder of the 2007-09 recession. (USA Today)

Lacking a license and loaded with debt, Tavern on the Green, the glittery New York City eatery, went dark after a final champagne-drenched fete on New Year’s Eve. On Jan. 13 relics of the shuttered restaurant will be auctioned off over three days. (Wall Street Journal)…

Recession Briefing 10.8: Parents Keep Spending on Kids

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

Consumers refused to cut back on one thing last year: their kids. Families spent almost the same amount on kids — boys and girls — younger than 16 last year as they had the year before. (Wall Street Journal/The Juggle)

Is the “man-cession” a myth? “Men have not been doing so badly by historic standards,” writes Christopher Swann. “Nor have women been making great breakthroughs.” (Reuters)

It’s bad enough that folks out of work have to deal with an unemployment rate that is pushing double digits, but now they also have to watch out for a growing wave of fraudsters who are looking to take advantage of their desperation. (Time)

Career Scams to Avoid

As if the whole sub-prime mortgage debacle wasn’t scam enough, schemers have been out in fuller force since the recession began. According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, there was a 33 percent uptick in scams last year.

Companies billing themselves as “career marketing specialists” have started specifically targeting professionals and managers in recent months, for example, capitalizing on the massive number of laid off executives looking for work anywhere they can.

To make matters worse, consumer advocates report that the sheer number of people working as scammers is on the rise, since an increasing number of unemployed workers are turning to identity theft and other money-making schemes as an additional source of income during the downturn.

Of course, the best protection against recession scammers is knowing what game they’re trying to pull…

Madoff’s Gluttonous Competition

In Dante’s fourth circle of hell, we might well find Bernie Madoff—but while he’s the first name that comes to mind when you think of greed these days, he’s up against a lot of competition when measured against the paragons of financial fraud and all-around selfishness over millennia. Remember Genghis? No slouch of avarice. Or Pope Sixtus? Lest you forget, he built his fortune on the backs of brothels.

Bernie and the rest of Wall Street’s recently exiled heavyweights are just the latest in a long line of titans who let greed and excess get the best of them. Here are some stars from that hall of fame…

Madoff’s Celebrity Marks: Where Are They Now?

There’s never a good time to lose a million dollars, let alone tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. And for most of Bernie Madoff’s victims — many of whom lost their life’s savings and are now being forced out of retirement or into a second job in the midst of the worst labor market in generations — a 150-year sentence isn’t a day too long for this seemingly remorseless swindler to be kept behind bars.

Still, some victims are in better shape than others. Among Madoff’s celebrity clients, a lucky few are already on pace to recoup their financial losses by the end of the year, while still others may never recover. Here’s a who’s who list of Madoff’s higher profile marks and how they’re likely to fare in the days ahead…