OPINION
There's no apocalypse out there
Wall Street Journal Nov 28, 08 1:10 PM CST
(Newser)
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This Thanksgiving, Peggy Noonan is thankful for what she’s not seeing. Despite the relentless glut of negative economic news, “everything looks the same,” she writes in the Wall Street Journal . There is no one selling pencils in the street, no children lining up in bread lines. “It’s as if the news is full of floods, but we haven’t seen it rain.”
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But cash isn't king for retailers, who'll likely see bigger drop in sales
Associated Press Nov 24, 08 2:15 AM CST
(Newser)
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Americans are reverting to cash for purchases in increasing numbers, according to top retailers Wal-Mart, Target and JC Penney. The shift away from credit is expected to further reduce spending by consumers—who will be limited to cash-on-hand purchases—not just during the holiday season, but during what could be a deep and long-lasting recession.
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OPINION
The downtime before inaguration could make things grimmer yet
New York Times Nov 21, 08 10:32 AM CST
(Newser)
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The state of the economy right now reminds Paul Krugman a lot of the start of the Great Depression, including a lame-duck administration that seems to have no credibility, hence no influence on the markets, the columnist writes in the New York Times . Drastic damage was done to the country in the months of paralysis between the election and the inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt, and Krugman sees the same thing happening now.
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OPINION
Obama needs to emulate Roosevelt's optimism in the face of deep crisis
Washington Post Nov 18, 08 8:16 AM CST
(Newser)
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Barack Obama keeps saying he wants to emulate Abraham Lincoln but he’s lucky that he more closely resembles Franklin D. Roosevelt, Richard Cohen writes in the Washington Post . Lincoln faced the massive challenge of reuniting the Union but knew just how to do it, while FDR, like Obama, confronted an economic crisis that stumped all the experts.
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He clings to life after suicide attempt in wake of plunging market
Reuters Nov 18, 08 4:28 AM CST
(Newser)
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A Brazilian trader was in critical condition after shooting himself in the chest on the floor of the nation's commodities and futures exchange yesterday. The tragedy occurred in the raucous interest rate futures pit, where some $21 billion in contracts are traded daily. Brazil's main stock index has plunged 50% since May.
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OPINION
Depression economics have taken hold
New York Times Nov 14, 08 12:03 PM CST
(Newser)
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The financial world has been turned upside down, and while we may not be headed for another Great Depression, we are embroiled in “depression economics,” writes Paul Krugman of the New York Times , a time when normal economic tools like the Fed's rate-cutting powers have “lost all traction.” In times like these, “virtue becomes vice, caution is risky and prudence is folly.”
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Falling prices
could trigger long
downward spiral
New York Times Nov 1, 08 5:11 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Fears of runaway inflation have been replaced by fears of its opposite as the world's economy starts seizing up, the New York Times reports. Economists see a potentially devastating deflation ahead as cash-strapped consumers create a glut of underpriced, unpurchased goods and services—in turn triggering mass layoffs at struggling companies and sending the US economy into a tailspin that will be tough to halt.
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OPINION
No reason stocks won't be back: economist
Wall Street Journal Oct 13, 08 11:24 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Ready to pull the plug on the stock market and put all of your money under the mattress? Princeton economics professor Burton Malkiel writes in the Wall Street Journal that you’ll be better off riding out the storm. “No one has consistently made money by selling America short, and I am confident the same lesson is true today,” he says.
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OPINION
It's A Wonderful Life hero helped poor buy unaffordable homes
Washington Post Oct 12, 08 1:26 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The housing bubble that triggered the current economic crisis began with a post-Depression attitude toward owning a home presented in the classic Christmas flick It’s a Wonderful Life , writes Ross Douthat in the Washington Post . Hero banker George Bailey’s chief goal was to loan the poor enough money to buy homes they couldn’t really afford because owning a house would “make them better citizens.”
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20 cinematic escapes when you're feeling the Great Depression
Gawker Oct 12, 08 5:17 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Nothing lifts a Great Depression like a visit to the talkies. Gawker recommends 20 films to watch on your iPhone while standing in tomorrow's bread lines—assuming you haven't already sold your iPhone. It's a Wonderful Life : How to survive a bank run, and have a Merry Christmas. Grapes of Wrath : Your Ugg boots won't help you on that long march. Ironweed: Pick up tips on Depression-era love, even if Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep do get a little nasty.
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analysis
Economist sees differences and remains optimistic
Baltimore Sun Oct 8, 08 6:50 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The economic news out of Wall Street and Washington is scary and shocking, but there's no reason to use the "D" word anytime soon, Jay Hancock writes in the Baltimore Sun . He talks with economic historian and professor Louis Galambos, who remains guardedly optimistic about the "core of the economy." Today's financial system is far more complex and diverse than that of the 1920s and '30s, and fundamental changes in how it operates should guard against doom.
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Analysis
As credit outlook deteriorates, most important word is 'trust'
New York Times Oct 1, 08 4:20 PM CDT
(Newser)
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Constant references to the Great Depression aren’t alarmist, but the analogy isn't perfect, either, writes David Leonhardt in the New York Times. "The basic mechanics of how the economy might fall into a severe recession look quite similar to those that caused the Depression," he explains. "In both cases, a credit crisis is at the center of the story."
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OPINION
American leadership
is 'scarcer than credit,' writes Brooks
New York Times Sep 30, 08 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser)
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When FDR became president, writes David Brooks, his first priority was to give Americans faith in their leadership, to show that someone was running the show. Now that the US is facing the greatest financial crisis since the Depression, today's political leaders "have failed utterly and catastrophically to project any sense of authority, to give the world any reason to believe that this country is being governed."