financial crisis

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Tiffany's Little Blue Box Keeps Recession Out

Although new cases tout "Items for under $750"

(Newser) - Amid the global economic downturn, one American institution stands strong: Tiffany & Co. “Tiffany is as American as guns,” writes Cintra Wilson for the New York Times. “Tiffany has always managed to navigate the dark spells of the economic cycle. It has survived the Civil War, two...

Older White Men Take Big Hit From Recession

Middle-aged workers hurt as unemployment hits 70-year high

(Newser) - Typically it’s the young who lose their jobs in a recession, but not in the current slowdown. Aging white workers at the theoretical peak of their earning power are losing their jobs this time around—and they can’t find new ones, USA Today reports. The jobless rate for...

Fed Sees More Signs of Recovery

(Newser) - The economy is finally beginning to show signs of stabilizing in some parts of the US, bolstering hopes of a broader-based recovery this year. A Federal Reserve snapshot of economic conditions issued today finds that most of the Fed's 12 regions indicated either that "the pace of decline has...

Fall-Back Job for Japanese Women: Flirting

Recession sends women into night clubs to sexily serve drinks

(Newser) - Jobs are scarce in Japan, so women are turning to a once-shunned profession: “hostessing.” They’re paid handsomely to serve drinks to, and, more importantly, lavish attention on, the patrons of gentlemen’s clubs, the New York Times reports. A good flirt can easily earn $100,000 a...

Risk Aversion Keeps Loans Shrinking

Trend suggests economy has a long way to go

(Newser) - Lending is still on the downswing, the Wall Street Journal finds, as an analysis of 15 banks' total loans on offer in the second quarter shows another 2.8% decline. What's worse, more than half of April and May’s loan volume was tied to refinanced mortgages and renewed credit...

Bernanke Defends Bailouts in First Fed Town Hall Meeting

(Newser) - Fed chief Ben Bernanke fielded questions from the public in an unprecedented town hall meeting last night, the Kansas City star reports. Sounding every bit like a candidate running for office, Bernanke defended his moves during the recession and financial crisis, saying he had learned from his predecessors' mistakes in...

Biden: Recovery Act Is Working
 Biden: Recovery Act Is Working 
OPINION
Jul 26, 2009 10:07 AM CDT

Biden: Recovery Act Is Working

Critics attacking 'pet programs' have 'misconstrued' the effort

(Newser) - Those who dismiss the Recovery Act as “being spent on pet programs” are wrong, writes the man tasked with administering it. Writing in a New York Times op-ed, VP Joe Biden contends that the stimulus has “brought us back from the precipice.” Two-thirds of it “goes...

Barnes: Obama's an 'Economic IIliterate'

(Newser) - President Obama has big plans for the economy, and that’s too bad because he knows nothing about it, Fred Barnes writes in the Weekly Standard. All of his proposals and angry jabs at Wall Street are counter to his professed interest in growth and job creation. “Obamanomics pays...

Good News: We've Hit Bottom!
Good News: We've Hit Bottom!
Analysis
Jul 24, 2009 9:13 AM CDT

Good News: We've Hit Bottom!

Of course, the bad news is: We've hit bottom!

(Newser) - Former Fed vice chairman Alan Blinder has some good news and some bad news about the economy, and it’s the same news: We’ve hit bottom. Third-quarter GDP should turn positive, and the fourth quarter could even hold an upside surprise. Growth of 3% or even 4% is utterly...

Holdouts, Converts Swelter Through Recession Without AC

Unit shipments down as Americans find other ways to keep cool

(Newser) - This summer, some Americans are more concerned about their wallets than their comfort—so they’re turning off the air conditioning and putting up with the heat, the New York Times reports. Window air conditioner shipments from manufacturers to distributors dropped 39% the first half of the year versus the...

Wall Street Lives, Dies by Overconfidence: Gladwell

(Newser) - Confidence is key to the banking game, but an overabundance of it seems to have made the industry’s titans so delusional they blundered into the financial crisis, Malcolm Gladwell writes in the New Yorker. “The roots of Wall Street’s crisis were not structural or cognitive so much...

'Recession-Proof' Job Is a Myth: Experts

(Newser) - If the downturn has you considering a “recession-proof” job like teaching or medicine, think again, Greg Burns writes in the Chicago Tribune. The recession has affected all sectors, from layoffs and lower enrollment at educational institutions to dwindling state budgets choking civil servants. “It’s a question of...

Is Obama Turning Into Carter?
 Is Obama Turning Into Carter? 
Jul 20, 2009 8:28 AM CDT

Is Obama Turning Into Carter?

(Newser) - Facing a burdensome political agenda, decreased popularity, and widespread opposition to his key policies, President Barack Obama appears poised to become the next Jimmy Carter, Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie write in the Washington Post. Both are "smart, moralistic" presidents who inherited brutal economies, but both responded with top-heavy...

NY AG Slaps Schwab With Suit Over Defrauding Clients

(Newser) - The New York attorney general has told Charles Schwab he will sue the brokerage for civil fraud over its marketing of securities to clients, reports the Wall Street Journal. Andrew Cuomo alleges that Schwab's brokers had little understanding of the financial instruments and then failed to inform clients that the...

If Economists Fail, Don't Blame Economics

...don't give up on economics

(Newser) - Economists have made some disastrous calls recently, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on economics, opines an editorial in the Economist. True, too few economists predicted the financial crisis, but the current backlash, which assumes that the dismal science is basically useless, has gone too far. “...

Economy 'Back From the Abyss:' Summers

(Newser) - President Obama's top economist is confident that swift action by the administration averted disaster, ABC News reports. “We were at the brink of catastrophe at the beginning of the year,” Larry Summers says, “but we have walked some substantial distance back from the abyss.” Summers credits...

Goldman's Gains Are America's Losses
 Goldman's Gains Are America's Losses 
OPINION
Jul 17, 2009 10:01 AM CDT

Goldman's Gains Are America's Losses

Record earnings show Wall Street behavior hasn't changed

(Newser) - Goldman Sachs’ record profits are good for the firm and “bad for America,” writes an irate Paul Krugman in the New York Times. With unemployment soaring, we’re seeing that “Wall Street’s bad habits” haven’t changed, and the government has actually made another crisis more...

Its Economy in Ruins, Iceland Votes to Join the EU

(Newser) - Iceland held fast to its independence as it rocketed to become one of the world's richest nations. But after a spectacular bust that decimated its currency and felled its government, the island nation has voted to join the EU. The accession plans are a victory for the country's new PM,...

Economy Is on an Upswing, Says Dr. Doom

Roubini predicts end to recession, sends markets jumping

(Newser) - The financial crisis is over and the worst of the recession is behind us, writes Nouriel Roubini, the extremely pessimistic economist who was among the few who predicted the scale of the downturn. "The light at the end of the tunnel is for once not an incoming train,"...

Dow Up 96 Despite CIT Woes
 Dow Up 96 Despite CIT Woes 
MARKETS
Jul 16, 2009 3:16 PM CDT

Dow Up 96 Despite CIT Woes

Rally extends into 4th day on Roubini comments, tech optimism

(Newser) - Stocks gained today as the tech sector continued to inspire and economist Nouriel Roubini predicted a recovery in late 2009, the Wall Street Journal reports. Though the looming bankruptcy of CIT Group depressed stocks most of the day, financials were able to trim losses before the close. The Dow rose...

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