A sign of the recession – Politicians may announce that the recession is over, but that won’t be true until all the empty cargo ships that are anchored off Singapore start moving again. This group of 500 empty ships is bigger than the US and British navies combined, but they have no cargo and thus no destination, so they just sit and wait.
read more
…when we no longer have a home – There are many tragedies connected with the recession, and one of these is the dilemma about what to do with some special members of our families when we can’t afford to take care of them anymore: our pets.
Many families have been forced to abandon their pets when they face foreclosure on their homes. While some foreclosure victims regrettably leave pets behind to die, there are many more that must make the difficult decision of forsaking a beloved family pet to a shelter or animal rescue group, only compounding the stress they’re already under from losing their homes.
read more
As GM goes under and more and more companies consider bankruptcy to deal with sky-high debt and an economy in recession, the question is: will this help the companies?
Researcher Erik Lie thinks these moves might provide only limited help for many. He thinks that companies that enter bankruptcy and then emerge too soon with too much debt, may do poorly when compared to similar companies that manage to survive.
read more
The economy may be showing signs of improvement but economists think that consumers will keep their newly-adopted thriftier habits for the long haul. This means that they’ll buy less, so that the economy won’t improve as quickly as it would have if everyone went back to their old ways. But will we be willing to give up on gambling?
Psychologist Michael McCall says, “Several months ago, we were in shock; nobody believed what was happening. So it was a stress-like reaction. Now people are spending less. People are tightening their belts and it is not clear exactly when they will stop tightening and start spending again.
read more