economic downturn

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Peanut Scare, Economy Slam Girl Scout Cookie Sales

(Newser) - Thanks to the economy, the peanut scare, and ugly winter weather, Girl Scout cookie sales are down 20% nationwide this year, the Boston Herald reports. Key programs are in danger of being cut, but the spirit of the young troopers is undimmed. “Not a lot of people on my...

Arson Catches Fire as Car Insurance Fraud Climbs

(Newser) - Car owners sideswiped by the economy have spurred a nationwide wave of arson and abandonment—last-ditch attempts to collect on insurance, the Wall Street Journal reports. Auto arson claims rose 6% nationally in 2008; in some particularly speculative states, the rate jumped as much as 18%. “Lots of desperate...

Iconic Depression Setting Makes Do Amid Recession

Could things get as bad for Sallisaw, Okla., as they did in the 1930s?

(Newser) - Many have made the parallel between the current economic slump and the Great Depression. Interested in pursuing the connection, Rafael Alvarez visited Sallisaw, Okla., an icon of the troubled 1930s as the setting of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, he writes for the Christian Science Monitor. The downturn...

In Today's Economy, Nannies Must Multitask

(Newser) - As affluent Americans downsize their household staffs, the once distinct lines between nannies and housekeepers are getting a little fuzzy, the Los Angeles Times reports. More and more, nannies are being asked to scrub the toilets along with watching the kids, and housekeepers are being asked to vacuum with a...

China-India Friction Rises Amid Downturn

But tensions persist between two boom economies

(Newser) - With US demand shrinking, China is looking to India to keep its exports buoyant and buy everything from iron ore to stuffed animals. But although China is its largest trading partner, India's not happy: this year it banned toy imports for safety reasons, and the country has lodged a dozen...

Stewart 'Incredibly Unfair,' Says NBC Chief

(Newser) - NBC CEO Jeff Zucker said today that Jon Stewart’s Daily Show attacks are “incredibly unfair to CNBC and the business media,” Broadcasting & Cable reports. “CNBC is a spectacular organization and in particular Jim Cramer,” Zucker continued. “What is going on now is absurd....

Obama Visit Lights Up Conservative Orange County

(Newser) - President Obama will speak today at a town hall meeting in deep-red Orange Country, Calif.—though maybe the “conservative stronghold” tag is weakening, the Los Angeles Times reports. Hundreds swarmed the event site for tickets, even camping out overnight to get them in an area that gave Obama...

G-20 Vows to Spur Lending
 G-20 Vows to Spur Lending 
Mar 14, 2009 1:53 PM CDT

G-20 Vows to Spur Lending

(Newser) - The world's top financial officials promised a three-tiered approach to battling the global economic slowdown today, the Wall Street Journal reports. At the G-20 summit in England, finance ministers vowed to inject money into the IMF and other institutions to lend to struggling countries, while tackling banks' toxic assets and...

Bartering Makes a Comeback
 Bartering Makes a Comeback 
Mar 14, 2009 12:28 PM CDT

Bartering Makes a Comeback

(Newser) - Around the world, websites that enable users to trade goods and services for the same are thriving in the down economy, the Washington Post reports. Craigslist, for instance, says bartering on the site has doubled in the past year. One Washington man got a plumber in exchange for a ride...

Circuit City Powers Down


  Circuit City Powers Down 
Mar 8, 2009 10:13 AM CDT

Circuit City Powers Down

Electronics retailer offers one more day of deep discounts

(Newser) - Today is the last day to benefit from the deeply slashed prices at the nation's closing Circuit City stores, NPR reports. Not everyone is pleased with the remaining selection of unwanted laptops and lonely printers, but shoppers are still finding deals, and the soon-to-be jobless employees seem to be doing...

Hey, Obama: Centrist Opposition Is Stirring

(Newser) - Be careful, President Obama. Your poll numbers are high, but political danger lurks, writes Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard. The moderate candidate has shifted left as president, just as Bill Clinton did to his own detriment, and an "embryonic" centrist-right opposition is stirring. “Obama may be fostering...

Economy Worsens, No Relief 'til Late '09: Beige Book

Fed sees no turnaround until late '09, early '10

(Newser) - The Fed predicted more pain for the US economy in today's “Beige Book” report, with a turnaround not expected until late 2009 or early 2010, the Wall Street Journal reports. “National economic conditions deteriorated further,” across January and February, the Fed said. In a distressing turn, the...

Silverman Show Gets a Reprieve

Comedy Central to share show with GLBT focused network

(Newser) - The nailbiting can end: The fate of the Sarah Silverman Program is settled for another year, after Comedy Central struck a deal to finance the comedy. The producers had refused to work with a slashed budget, and negotiations stalled until an exec thought to ask sister network Logo to share...

US Will Collapse by 2010: Russian

(Newser) - The “collapse of the American dream” is complete, says a Russian scholar, and President Obama will declare martial law and the US will splinter into six regions by the end of 2010, the AP reports. Igor Panarin, the dean of Russia's Foreign Ministry school, cited school shootings, the prison...

1 in 5 Homeowners Underwater
 1 in 5 Homeowners Underwater 
Mar 4, 2009 10:17 AM CST

1 in 5 Homeowners Underwater

(Newser) - More than 20% of Americans with home mortgages owe more to their lenders than their homes are worth, a 2% rise since September, the Washington Post reports. The hardest-hit state was Nevada, where 55% of homeowners with mortgages have negative equity. These 8.3 million homeowners nationwide are much more...

As Jobs Dry Up, Wannabe Lifeguards Head to Surf City

California's unemployed turn to jobs once held by teens

(Newser) - Huntington Beach, Calif., might be more famous for hosting surfing competitions, but the crowds lined up on the sand yesterday were there looking for work, reports the Los Angeles Times. The economic downturn has buoyed interest in $16-per-hour lifeguard positions, summer jobs once dominated by bronzed teenagers and college students.

Only One Fund Manager Made Money in 2008

But repeating the feat this year could prove tricky for Forester

(Newser) - Of the 8,200 stock mutual funds in the United States, only one—Forester Value—managed to turn a profit in 2008. With a gain of just 0.4%, Thomas Forester has become a minor celebrity in the financial world, and brokers are suddenly eager to sell his tiny fund...

Economic Woes Threaten Iraq's Stability

Declining oil prices and aid cancel urgently needed rebuilding

(Newser) - Countries around the world are suffering budget shortfalls and declining exports, but few nations have seen as calamitous a fall in revenues as Iraq. As oil prices have plummeted and American financial support has dried up, Iraq is canceling projects and struggling to pay government employees. As the New York ...

It's Carnival! (But Crisis Hangover Looms)

Money dries up, but Brazil keeps on partying

(Newser) - Wednesday is the start of Lent, but until then millions are sambaing in the streets of Brazil in the days-long bacchanal known as Carnival. While the celebrations in Rio de Janiero are as big as ever, the economic crisis is taking its toll on the massive party. Corporate sponsorship for...

Cash-Poor? Hit the Blood Bank—and Get Career Advice

(Newser) - Blood and other bodily fluids are hot sellers these days as donors line up to pocket quick cash in a plunging economy, ABC News reports. Seeing an increase in traffic, blood banks are campaigning to boost it higher, one at Stanford University even offering resumé and job interview advice to...

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