thegreatrecession

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Ugh, Dreaded Double Digit Unemployment Is Here
They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
New York's New Ghost Town

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Barking Spider
11/06/09

In reply to Ugh, Dreaded Double Digit Unemployment Is Here
Great. More deadbeats at Starbucks. #unemployment
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drunkexpatwriter
11/06/09

In reply to Ugh, Dreaded Double Digit Unemployment Is Here
Since that doesn't include people who have stopped looking for work, recent college graduates and people who are getting like 15 hours a week at Wal-Mart, what do you think the real number is? #unemployment
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eatsshootsleaves
11/06/09

@drunkexpatwriter: According to Time, 17.5. [www.time.com]

Yikes. #unemployment
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drunkexpatwriter
11/06/09

@eatsshootsleaves: Wait. That's almost exactly the percentage recently reported for the effectiveness of condoms and/or withdrawal.

I sense a conspiracy.

[www.guttmacher.org] #unemployment
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momof3wildkids
11/06/09

@eatsshootsleaves: You are correct with the 17% number. Clinton changed the way unemployment is calculated. So the bs that we haven't seen an unemployment rate this high in 20+ years doesn't mean shit because the definition of unemployment has changed dramatically since then. #unemployment
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Treece
11/06/09

@momof3wildkids: To essentially state the the statistic is meaningless is utter foolishness. Yes, the calculation was changed in '94. It was also changed in '67 and '76. But it doesn't make this calculation worthless. Maybe you could show us how you backtested your numbers before calling these ones bs.

*The '94 change said that workers must have sought work in the prior year.

**Even though this calculation attempts to address it, it undercounts the hidden economy, illegal aliens, etc., which, whether you like it or not, are part of how we should measure our economic vitality. #unemployment
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momof3wildkids
11/06/09

@Treece: I didn't do the calculations, it is part of what Mr.Momof3 does to make a living. I agree with the hidden economy part.

The calculations also do not take into account business owners who are no longer able to take a salary or have closed down their business. Small business owners or the self-employed are not eligible for unemployment. #unemployment
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Treece
11/06/09

@momof3wildkids: Stop talking about shit you don't understand. Unemployment insurance is an employer tax, not an employee one. This means that small business owners (typically S corps) usually don't report their own wages and pay unemployment insurance on themselves. Hence, they don't qualify. If the business were an C corp (yes, in most cases a bad idea for a small business owner), and they paid unemployment insurance on their own wages, they might qualify, depending on how/why the business shut down.

None of this means that anyone was out to stick it to small business owners. This helps them because they don't want to pay unemployment insurance on their most highly compensated employee. So, please stop bending scraps of information to reinforce your own very poorly informed worldview. It is very unhelpful. #unemployment
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momof3wildkids
11/06/09

@Treece: I am not being clear apparently. I am merely saying that the current number of 10.2% is not accurate at all as it doesn't truly reflect all the people who are unemployed. The current unemployment number has been compared to unemployment numbers from the early 80's in the news today. We are talking about apples and oranges as far as numbers go.

I may no mention of "sticking it to small business owners." There are plenty of other ways small business owners have gotten the shaft, but not being reflected in the unemployment numbers is not one of them. #unemployment
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momof3wildkids
11/06/09

In reply to Ugh, Dreaded Double Digit Unemployment Is Here
0.3% higher isn't exactly "slightly" higher in economic terms. #unemployment
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Gabriel Snyder
11/06/09

@momof3wildkids: True. #unemployment
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depardoo
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
My mother, who was a child throughout the Depression, nevertheless constantly reminds me how her family ate "lung stew" most nights for dinner because they could afford nothing else. Perhaps this accounts for how disgusting my mother's cooking was throughout my middle class childhood.
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BadUncle
07/30/09

@depardoo: My grandmother came from a dustbowl farm during the depression. And despite becoming affluent later in life, she wouldn't give up a commitment to offal, from a childhood eating "the whole animal, head to hoof." She only served calve's brain to me once.
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Pinekatz
07/30/09

@BadUncle: Ditto. My grandparents, who hailed from farms in the Midwest and Oklahoma, always had a jar of pickled pig's feet in the fridge at all times, long after it wasn't necessary. Grandma learned to love this "delicacy." My grandfather would chew gristle and enjoy it. I always watched that with such fascination.

They ate beef heart, liver, chicken heart, sweetbreads and every manner of appalling forms of protein.

But, these people could bake a pie. They would work as a team, he doing the crust and she doing the filling. Their pies were, still to this day, the best I have ever had.
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ambitious
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
Tough to interview the people who died of starvation or illness. Or the suicides. I'd love to get their collective take on "hope" in the job queues.

Human beings as a group try to make the best of shit. That's not new news.
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meechybee
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
Yes, and all of the commenters in the Newsweek article were children during the depression. I bet their parents had a very different opinion of the times.
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ambitious
07/30/09

@meechybee: I asked my nana what it was like growing up during the depression and she said "We didn't know anything about that. We were playing." I mean, it makes sense.
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lionboy
07/30/09

@meechybee: I'm sure you are quite right it wasn't as hard on the kids because it was the only thing they knew.

My father grew up during the depression, one of five children deserted by their father. A lot of men deserted families out of shame for not being able to provide for them. His mother re-married and added four more to the brood. Although she died when I was about 10, I still remember Grandma Wagoner as a woman devoid of affection or joy.

The kids, my aunts and uncles, were always really funny. My dad's nickname was Skip. He got it because of the way he walked after a cutting his foot on a piece of glass. See, his shoe had a hole in it and they couldn't afford a doctor so he hobbled around a lot until it healed. As depressing as this story of poverty is, he continued to go by the name Skip for the rest of his life. The story always got laughs whenever it was re-told at family gatherings.

The other depression story that always left a mark on me was from an aunt who explained that poverty taught tolerance. It didn't matter who was what (race, religion, etc.) because everybody was poor. Nobody got to be better than anybody else.

Jesus, I think that rant is a sign of early on-set Alzheimers. Shit.
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Edited by lionboy at 07/30/09 12:58 PM lionboy was starred lionboy was unstarred

meechybee
07/30/09

@meechybee: Yes, my father grew up in the depression, too. He tells stories of "borrowing" row boats to run booze from Jersey City to NYC, scavenging scrap metal and copper to sell, and running number from the candy shop (which was running illegal gambling in the back room). One of the highlights of his childhood was when the Maxwell House coffee warehouse caught on fire. They gathered up as many floating cans of coffee as possible and sold them the next day. A real "Our Gang" childhood.

Meanwhile, his mom was an immigrant with no family in the states and raising six kids on her own after being abandoned by her alcoholic husband. She worked two jobs scrubbing floors to make ends meet. In addition, their apartment was a cold water flat (literally) with an outhouse in the backyard (remember, this is a Jersey City walk-up, still there). All of their healthcare came from charities and the goodness of strangers.
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dado
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
It seems like my being told that the recession is over is related in some inverse fashion to the fading prospects of healthcare reform. Not that I mind being spun.
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Edited by dado at 07/30/09 11:34 AM dado was starred dado was unstarred

hilikusopus
07/30/09

@dado: That's because in the new healthcare reform proposal we will get all of our healthcare needs addressed by spin doctors. Say "ah".
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skymotel
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
And who can forget all the exciting, creative ways people learned how to cook? Mock Apple Pie! Isn't this recipe great? We can eat sweetened crackers and pretend we used real apples! YAY!
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ManchuCandidate
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
Tom Joad sez "Go fuck yourselves."
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Tremonius
07/30/09

In reply to They Didn't Call it the 'Great' Depression For Nothing
Don't forget the eponymic cutlery given away free at movie theatres which allowed countless poors to retire to the Hamptons when they became antique. Don't forget Depression Glass.
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RollsRoyceRevenge
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
I think the Warner's towers are lovely, even if the base is a wreck...the Times Building is quite elegant...and I've always loved the Conde Nast for being so frankly eclectic. The Lehmann building is a harder case to argue, but I've seen much worse, and a lot of it only a few blocks away.

No. 7 WTC will be the one that the others will be judged by, just as the Chrysler overshadows the Chanin, French & Co. and One Wall Street.
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pot-pourri
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
The Woolworth, SO and Cunard buildings would make Howard Roarke gag.
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RollsRoyceRevenge
04/13/09

@pot-pourri: You say that as if it would be a bad thing.
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Iceland Spar
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
Though the renovation of Lincoln Center, the Gehry building in downtown Manhattan and Calatrava's transportation hub (if any are actually finished) I think all could be quite nice. Though, I am a fan of the Time Warner Center (more so when viwed from a distance), so I may be dq'd from this post.
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MattGaymon
04/13/09

@Iceland Spar: The towers are terrific - I love the way they embrace and echo the circle and various street patterns. It's the base that sucks so hard.
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Dickdogfood
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
The early 20C buildings were crafted for beauty's sake? That's a pretty rose-colored view of things: they were done partly out of vanity, too.
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Maulleigh
04/13/09

In reply to New York's New Ghost Town
I've always been a fan of Henry Cameron's Dana building.
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