How Bad Could It Get?
“Mr. [John Tepper] Marlin (former Chief Economist for the City Comptroller’s Office) expects that there will be more defaults on buildings as condominium and co-op owners fail to pay their common charges, and also more sales of foreclosed properties. Rents will continue to dip. There will be longer lines at the grocery store, because fewer…
“Mr. [John Tepper] Marlin (former Chief Economist for the City Comptroller’s Office) expects that there will be more defaults on buildings as condominium and co-op owners fail to pay their common charges, and also more sales of foreclosed properties. Rents will continue to dip. There will be longer lines at the grocery store, because fewer people will eat out. And he worries about unrest, citing hard-hit Iceland as a recent example. I’m concerned about people being so desperate that they lose the fear of losing their own lives and they become so desperate that they’re willing to endanger other people’s lives, he said.” — NY Times
looks like the remaining cheerleaders now resorting to “newspapers, economists are full of s*hit” approach to denial…
What….the dollar is strengthening. Remember, just because something moves dramatically doesn’t mean its a bad thing.
economists are never wrong.
and the NYTimes cares deeply about the well being of its readers.
Whatever your worse case scenarios are, it’ll be worse. Just like the “media” pumped up your false hopes on the way up, heavy doses of reality on the way down. Why else would people be interested in blogs such as this one? $$$$$$$$$$$$$. Like more than 3 people really give a s*hit about details in the crevice of a house…
I smell Napalm….. Last night in the F/X Markets something blew up in Asia! The Dollar/ Yen Dollar/ Other Currencies went Parabolic!!!! The Fed had to open swap lines and start intervention! All of Eastern Europe is in Financial Red Alert. That’s why the markets suck World Wide. The funny thing about this event was it was not on CNBC or Bloomberg and that’s very scary!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end..
But where would the media be if they didn’t have those attention-grabbing, doomsday headlines to sell their stories? I mean, how good is a journalist who uses fear instead of information for his article?
what upsets me so much is that instead of talking about all the things that are going on that actually help, it’s so much easier to write an all is death and destruction piece because with hype a little goes a long way, and research is too much work.
No wonder newspapers are in trouble. After awhile you have to tune them out just to stay sane. (Too late for me- the rest of you save yourselves!)
The problem with direct comparisons with the past is that they just don’t work. Time and progress have not been frozen.
To say we will be living in times just like the Depression, is to forget we have an entire social network in place to help people – a direct result of the Depression. We are not the same people, either. We are better educated, more worldly, more accepting of other peoples, and civil rights are a reality. We have better technology, more advanced media, and better transportation. As an educated black woman during the 30’s, the best I could hope to be is a teacher in a segregated school, perhaps a doctor or lawyer, but again, only in my community. Now, I can be whatever I choose, wherever I choose. The options for most people are much greater. Even those out of work have at least an opportunity for retraining, that did not exist back then.
Also, as has been pointed out, we are not in the same times here in NYC, as in the 70’s, when crime reached its heights. Again, we have (hopefully) learned from the past, we have better tech to combat crime, more police, less police corruption, more minority cops, a more integrated and equal society and neighborhoods. That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of problems, many the same as before, specifically underclass poverty, but hopefully we are not revisiting those days, even as things get worse.
Desperation, as defined by the author, is a tad overwrought. We have no idea what real desperation is. Try living in a refugee camp, or in Darfur, or a favela. That’s desperation.
Brenda….the media has a lot to do with it. It’s too bad really.
Ikea meatballs = Soylent Green.