ZenLunatic Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I dedicate this song to Our Economy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lamradio Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Wow, serious vibes to all those affected by these massive layoffs. My small office laid off over 10% of our workforce last week with possibly more layoffs or mandatory furloughs to come. It seems like everyone I know knows someone who has lost their job. At this point I'm happy to have a job, even if I don't like it very much right now. Well hello there stranger. A friend of the family lost his job on Friday. Luckily, the company he worked for was able to pay him 1 years salary as a severance package. He's about 2 semesters away from getting his bachelor's degree and his wife is a stay at home mom. He was a supervisor at NSK, a company that makes ball bearings for the automotive industry. One year salary of severance? Shoot, I'd be celebrating! Yeah, I'll get about six weeks of severance if/when I'm laid off... It's not looking as bad as it did a couple months ago, but there's still a strong possibility that I will be laid off sometime in the summer. And yes, my wife is a stay at home mom as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gogo Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I heard a dude (economic advisor to Reagan, architect of Bush 43's tax refund) yesterday on the radio say "the good news is no matter how bad it gets, we won't be seeing bread lines like in the Depression." I mean, I get that it's good we have FDIC and the like, but still - that's the good news!?[oversimplified rant]I think it's good news for the likes of him. The depression ended because of new government spending programs that put money back into the economy by creating jobs for the people on those bread lines (and, of course, because jobs were created due to the war). This time around, the money is going to things like bailing out the banks. But because we've got more safety nets than we had in the 1930s, the people won't be going nuts and doing things like organizing unions and joining the communist party.[/oversimplified rant] Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ZenLunatic Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 [oversimplified rant]I think it's good news for the likes of him. The depression ended because of new government spending programs that put money back into the economy by creating jobs for the people on those bread lines (and, of course, because jobs were created due to the war). This time around, the money is going to things like bailing out the banks. But because we've got more safety nets than we had in the 1930s, the people won't be going nuts and doing things like organizing unions and joining the communist party.[/oversimplified rant] Correction: The depression was caused by Hoover by carrying out the same failed ideas that our government is now trying to carry out. Roosevelt made things worse by the New Deal, but many people relive history incorrectly so we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Roosevelt made things worse by the New DealThis is a popular idea on the right, but I'm not buying it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 This is a popular idea on the right, but I'm not buying it. I don't know that Roosevelt made things worse, but there are plenty of historians and economists who argue that the New Deal lengthened the effects of the Great Depression. Of course, you'll find plenty that argue the other way, too. Either way, the only thing that really got us out of it was World War II. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Correction: The depression was caused by Hoover by carrying out the same failed ideas that our government is now trying to carry out. Roosevelt made things worse by the New Deal, but many people relive history incorrectly so we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes.Clearly, you missed the memo about Keynesian economics being right. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JUDE Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 [Fletch/ Hey! It's all ball bearings nowadays /Fletch] Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duck-Billed Catechist Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 So if the recovery was from WWII or the New Deal...wasn't it a matter of government spending either way? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Smith Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 I don't know that Roosevelt made things worse, but there are plenty of historians and economists who argue that the New Deal lengthened the effects of the Great Depression. Of course, you'll find plenty that argue the other way, too. Either way, the only thing that really got us out of it was World War II. The enw deal did not lengthen the great depression historians are pretty clear on this, the punditry however is not. What ended up lengthening the great depression was that when things started to recover the deficit hawks wanted the deficit worked on. I consider myself a deficit hawk and am unsure as to how to take what is going on right now, Iright now I think the best thing about the dems controlling is that we may get some accountability on spennding as there has been none for the last eight year, I am more concerned right now about how we spend rather than the fact that we are spending. Though I believe we are dangerously over leveraged, made worse by the malfeasance and mismanagement surrounding the first TARP package and it will only get worse as the next trillion is added to the pile. Being this overleveraged will only lead to more taxes eventually to pay for it all. I just got out of a meeting that makes me nervous for the future as the topic of discussion was idle shipping capacity and how many hundreds of vessels are sitting unused around the world being sold off for pennies on the dollar. Sold even though no freight is out there to ship. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
watch me fall Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Just found out the ex bf lost his job today. I would say karma and all that,but I don't think he liked it very much anyway. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EL the Famous Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 i sat through an uplifting presentation about unemployment benefits today...huge assembly room FULL of people. i've been pretty upbeat about this whole thing most days, but wow...that was a total downer. my tip, don't just focus on stockpiling your $...build your network. outside of my severence, 12 years worth of contacts is what's keeping me from feeling hopeless. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
explodo Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 my tip, don't just focus on stockpiling your $...build your network. outside of my severence, 12 years worth of contacts is what's keeping me from feeling hopeless. You can be my bitch for two pence a week. Network! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Speed Racer Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I know a few people who were laid off, but I also know of three acquaintances and a co-worker who were outright fired. A lot of companies seem to be ridding themselves of dead weight. My job requires that our clients have employees, and my office is so small that my job is 10% of the workforce. The owners told us that salary cuts would precede layoff(s), and that none of that would likely happen until June. Still, I'm pretty sure I'll be leaving this gig before I want to. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bjorn_skurj Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Triple Ganesh vibes to us all. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mountain bed Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 The latest on the local news, just overheard: 35K jobs lost in IN for the month of December - unemployment rate:8.2% (tied with SC for the largest jump). Vibes to all us. As we already know it will get worse before it gets better. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
watch me fall Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 The latest on the local news, just overheard: 35K jobs lost in IN for the month of December - unemployment rate:8.2% (tied with SC for the largest jump). Vibes to all us. As we already know it will get worse before it gets better. 9.5% here and only getting higher. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MattZ Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 My anecdotal sense (with my company and friends' companies as evidence) is that lots of places are hanging on for dear life and doing everything they can to weather the storm in the hopes that things turn around. And if they don't soon, there's going to be a pretty heavy round of layoffs/bankruptcies. So, as bad as things are, I think it's pretty clear that if we dont see some miraculous turnaround by the middle of the year, things are going to get much worse. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ZenLunatic Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Clearly, you missed the memo about Keynesian economics being right. I assume you are being sarcastic. Hope your a fan of Austrian economics, it is what we need to be teaching and our hope for a free and good future. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Hope your a fan of Austrian economics, it is what we need to be teaching and our hope for a free and good future.No. What we don't need is to replace one disastrous laissez faire philosophy with another. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lamradio Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I just heard; a friend of mine from highschool and her husband both got laid off in the same week. She was in Graphic Design, and the husband was a supervisor at a distribution center. Man, tough times ahead for them.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gogo Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 My anecdotal sense (with my company and friends' companies as evidence) is that lots of places are hanging on for dear life and doing everything they can to weather the storm in the hopes that things turn around. And if they don't soon, there's going to be a pretty heavy round of layoffs/bankruptcies. So, as bad as things are, I think it's pretty clear that if we dont see some miraculous turnaround by the middle of the year, things are going to get much worse.I'm afraid you're right. 10% unemployment in California. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ZenLunatic Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Boeing job cuts will total about 10,000 this year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
remphish1 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/artic...wx,yhoo,%5Eixic Aol just announced 700 jobs cut. Kodak 4500 today! http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Kodak-posts-...f-14192726.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 My friend in Philly just told me his company (Pep Boys) announced layoffs of 10% (50 people) in his office today, along with a freeze on salary increases and 401(k) matching. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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