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Plane Folly
This year, Stephen Schwarzman’s birthday was a much more modest affair than in 2007, when he cemented his position as poster child for hedge fund excess. His 60th birthday bash was said to have cost $3 million and included a performance by Rod Stewart.
Yesterday, we’re told, Blackstone Group employees were invited to a giant boardroom for a brief roast and some cake. But it wasn’t all humble pie. Huge flat-screens in the rooms displayed the birthday invitation—a map showing the many miles Schwarzman had traveled in the last year, complete with cute little pictures of private planes.
Simple Ticket Savings
Kiplinger’s just released a story on how to easily save $50 a day, or a total of $18,250 a year. It won’t change your life–several of the tips we’ve heard before (like buying energy-efficient light bulbs); many others don’t apply to urban dwellers who take a lot of public transportation and don’t eat at Cheesecake Factory.
But this one about event tickets was a pleasant surprise.
Recession Briefing 2.16
What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.
Anna Wintour: “Value is In” (WSJ)
When the editor of Vogue rails against consumerism, the economy must be in a tailspin.
Job Losses Pose a Threat to Stability Worldwide (NY Times)
Worldwide job losses from the recession that started in the United States in December 2007 could hit a staggering 50 million by the end of 2009. High unemployment rates have led to protests in countries as varied as Latvia, Chile, Greece, Bulgaria and Iceland and contributed to strikes in Britain and France.
White House Dampens Stimulus Expectations (Reuters)
Aides warned Americans on Sunday not to expect instant miracles from the $787 billion economic stimulus bill he will sign this week, but said it would help eventually.
Stimulation for Everyone!
Late last night, the final draft of the $789 billion economic stimulus bill went up on the web for public review; it’s supposed to go to President Obama on Monday. The thing is more than 1,000 pages long, and it should be no surprise that’s there seems to be something in it for everyone. No matter whether you’re young, old, working, jobless, poor, comfortable, renting, buying, you’ll see some benefit too! Here are some of the highlights we’ve seen so far.
January Shopping Surprise
If you’re like me, the holiday shopping season went a little like this: Get the gifts for family and friends, but instead of the usual “one for them two for me” approach (that’s a joke, Mom! Really, it’s a joke!) I had my eye on January for my personal shopping holiday.
For those who could afford it, the retail landscape portended a shopper’s dream. Today the numbers have come in — total retail sales rose 1 percent in January, the first increase in seven months.
Recession Concessions: HBO vs. The Cleaning Lady
Sara Clemence, 34
New York City
Editor, Recessionwire Co-founder
Keeping: My cleaning lady ($75 every two weeks)
Ditching: HBO ($15 a month)
Downturn Deals: Sacco Shoes
We wander past signs like this all day long. Some of them are more surprising than others. This one definitely caught our eye and, we must admit, caused a wee bit of secret delight.
What is the deal? Shoes and boots are 50 percent off prices well below normal levels.
Read more…
Recession Concessions: Dog Food v. Daycare
Ditching: Daycare
Keeping: Gourmet dog food
Few are immune to the necessary cutbacks that come with shrinking assets. Even dogs.
Be Nice to Rich People
Paul Krugman blogged about the “paradox of thrift” for the New York Times this morning. Basically, people are cutting spending, which negatively affects the economy, which results in more job losses, which causes people to pull back on spending, and so on…
Funnily enough, yesterday a friend who has a designer retail business was lamenting the trend of lambasting the rich for shopping.
Nearly Free Art
Many of us are spending more time in our homes just as we have less to spend on our homes. Happily, there are creative ways to spiff up your walls without breaking out the college posters. Here, four works of art that practically cost pennies.
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