economic recession?
2007-Dec-28, Friday 02:04 pmWhy is it that the major news outlets aren't calling our current economy a recession? I'd believe if discussion called it something even worse, an actual depression. Yet even the Economist magazine said in mid-November only that "Recession in America looks increasingly likely".
Where I live in Columbia Heights, MN, it was already obvious that the mortgage crisis had hit really hard. Every block around here has had a few For Sale signs up on any given week. But I don't think the current bad economy is just a reflection of that one fiasco.
Just before noon today, I was driving one of my roommates,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
foeclan, to the airport for his trip out to Boston. Along the way, I stopped at a bank so he could withdraw some cash. As we were driving away from the bank along the residential area, block after block each had 4 or 5 For Sale signs. He also noticed that some houses, even though they had no signs up, were uninhabited. One was even boarded up.
After dropping him at the airport, I drove back home. As I exited interstate 694 at University Avenue, there was an old woman (late 50s, I'd guess) out with her cardboard sign, stating she was homeless and wanted help. At the time, it was 20F outside (12F windchill) and snowing very lightly. She's not the first I've seen. This is my 10th winter in Minnesota, yet this is the first winter that I can remember seeing homeless people on the corners begging for money. Normally they take a break for warmer climates and then return come spring thaw. This situation is pretty bad.
So, you Minnesotans in particular, does this season seem a lot worse than in other years? Is it just me being depressed and alarmist because of my own job-hunting doldrums? What's going on?
Where I live in Columbia Heights, MN, it was already obvious that the mortgage crisis had hit really hard. Every block around here has had a few For Sale signs up on any given week. But I don't think the current bad economy is just a reflection of that one fiasco.
Just before noon today, I was driving one of my roommates,
foeclan, to the airport for his trip out to Boston. Along the way, I stopped at a bank so he could withdraw some cash. As we were driving away from the bank along the residential area, block after block each had 4 or 5 For Sale signs. He also noticed that some houses, even though they had no signs up, were uninhabited. One was even boarded up.After dropping him at the airport, I drove back home. As I exited interstate 694 at University Avenue, there was an old woman (late 50s, I'd guess) out with her cardboard sign, stating she was homeless and wanted help. At the time, it was 20F outside (12F windchill) and snowing very lightly. She's not the first I've seen. This is my 10th winter in Minnesota, yet this is the first winter that I can remember seeing homeless people on the corners begging for money. Normally they take a break for warmer climates and then return come spring thaw. This situation is pretty bad.
So, you Minnesotans in particular, does this season seem a lot worse than in other years? Is it just me being depressed and alarmist because of my own job-hunting doldrums? What's going on?