If you’ve recently lost your job, you’re looking at a whole new world that you will have to deal with. I’ve learned a lot by being marginally employed, and in this second installation I’d like to share what I’ve learned about this world. I don’t know everything, and I’ve certainly made mistakes. If you have some other ideas, please comment at the end and share what works for you.
Home » Money (Page 124)
Category Archives: Money
Economics and commerce, all built from scratch.
On the Margin
In January 2008, 78.3 million Americans had jobs. By November, that was down to 76.7 million people and shrinking fast. The 3.9 million who were unemployed in 2007 have seen their ranks grow by 41%, meaning that a lot of people are unemployed now that haven’t been in the recent past. Those who have been there before probably know a thing or two about how to survive the situation, but the newcomers likely don’t.
This series is written for those of you who have recently left the middle class with what feels like a bootprint on your ass.
A Visit from St. Klaus
‘Twas the hours before trading, and there on the screen
The markets abroad were all tranquil and green;
In Europe and Asia they each held to their course,
With decent increases in bourse after bourse.
But yet I couldn’t sleep in the dark of the night
Knowing somewhere that something just possibly might
Take a dive, though the hour was terribly late
For the year wasn’t over, this bad two-oh-oh-eight.
Bennies
As the reality of our economic situation sinks in, some implications will seem a bit strange. A Depression (or a Depression like situation) is marked by the loss of jobs, and we can reasonably expect higher unemployment. Unlike the last Depression, however, people have a lot riding on the bennies they get through employment. The implications will become vast before this is all over.
Out of the Woods
In a place called Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, the Allies met in 1944 to plan what the world would look like once WWII was over. Victory was not assured, but it was clear that the cost of defeating Hitler would be devastating at best. The goal of this conference was to devise how everyone would work together to prevent what everyone saw as the root problem of relentless war in Europe – economic Depression accelerated by national competition. The system of currency exchanges was only partially successful, but the conference identified the need for the Marshall Plan, the IMF, and the World Bank. Our modern financial world dates to this time.
