Archive for 'Financial crisis / recession'
ABC News analysis on the American middle class
ABC News has a special report this week on America’s Middle Class and Economic Concerns.
The on-line content that compliments the ABC World News with Diane Sawyer reports includes these details:
Average incomes for people who call themselves middle class are about $55,000 a year, versus about $35,000 for those who call themselves working class [...]
Posted: March 15th, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, In the News.
Comments: none
Monroe County MI land values expected to keep falling
My co-worker Charles Slat followed up on the annual Board of Review tax assessment appeal process to see what was happening with property values this year in Monroe County, Mich.
And Charles had this report for Sunday’s edition of The Monroe Evening News: Fewer seek tax appeals.
Here’s the sidebar: Land values likely to keep falling.
Posted: March 15th, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, In the News, Real estate, Taxes.
Comments: none
Freep: When homeowners walk away
The Detroit Free Press has a Cover Story package starting today about underwater mortgages. There are lots of charts and articles that include average home sale prices, unemployment rates and foreclosure filings in Michigan.
The piece that should be a must-read for any Michigan resident considering such a move is Lenders crack down. A snippet:
Many states [...]
Posted: March 7th, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, Foreclosure, In the News.
Comments: 1
Help get the word out
The headlines from Michigan and Ohio are frustrating to read these days.
Someone lost his job because of budget cuts. Another office has scheduled unpaid furlough days every two weeks. The food pantry organizers are reporting higher demand on their services. The debate is boiling as to whether to issue another extension for jobless benefits.
If you [...]
Posted: March 2nd, 2010 under Assistance programs, Financial crisis / recession, Frugal living.
Comments: none
Spider-Man to lose his job
And now from the Just for Fun files …
CNN reports that Spider-Man’s alter ego Peter Parker will soon be unemployed.
Posted: March 1st, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, In the News, Just for fun.
Comments: none
Detroit News: Divorcing couples leave out lawyers
The Detroit News has this report today: Divorcing couples leave out lawyers.
A snippet:
With depressed home values and a dicey job market, divorces in Metro Detroit are down, as unhappy couples ride out the financial storm, the theory goes.
But of those who do file for divorce, more are financially strapped and duking it out [...]
Posted: March 1st, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, In the News, Legal fees, Single parenting and split families.
Comments: 2
Freep: St. Joseph getting more prayers from home sellers
The Detroit Free Press is reporting on the increasing popularity of a folk custom observed by some Michigan homeowners who seek help from above.
The tradition involves burying a small statue of St. Joseph in the yard of the home you want to sell.
A snippet from St. Joseph getting more prayers:
“Our sales on the St. [...]
Posted: February 27th, 2010 under Faith celebrations, Financial crisis / recession, In the News, Real estate.
Comments: none
The bottom line: expenses have to be below income
I overheard a conversation the other day in which someone remarked how it seems like some southeast Michigan residents are spending quite a bit of money these days, despite the recession.
“How do they do it?” he wondered.
Well, one can talk about budget-cutting details all day. I’ve written many such posts myself. Go to my Downsized [...]
Posted: February 26th, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, Frugal living.
Comments: none
It’s so underwater that …
The Toledo Blade has a report today that 26 percent of borrowers in Ohio and 39 percent in Michigan owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.
Posted: February 25th, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, In the News.
Comments: none
Detroit News: Blue-collar workers hanging on by a thread
The Charlie’s Travels series for the Detroit News has this very sad look at the metro Detroit job environment today: Blue-collar workers hanging on by a thread.
A snippet:
Schaefer Screw is in an industrial section of Garden City north of Ford Road, about two miles west of Detroit.
My brother Bill Parker and his wife [...]
Posted: February 25th, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, In the News.
Comments: none
When school budget cuts hit home
If you live in Michigan, it’s hard to ignore the potential impact of state budget cuts on the K-12 public school districts. (Article from today’s edition of The Monroe Evening News.)
To be fair, this school budget crisis is not entirely Lansing’s fault. The legislators can only allocate whatever money is coming in. There is a [...]
Posted: February 22nd, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, High school years, In the News, K-8 students.
Comments: 1
The Atlantic: How a new jobless era will transform America
This piece by The Atlantic is getting a lot of links and buzz, and for good reason. You do want to read it. How a new jobless era will transform America.
A snippet:
A few of the solutions—like more-aggressive support for the unemployed, and employer tax credits or other subsidies to get people back to [...]
Posted: February 16th, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, In the News, Unemployment.
Comments: none
Who is getting hit by this recession?
I’ve seen several headlines on the recent Center for Labor Market Studies research about who is getting hit by the recession. But Jackie at the MLive Michigan Job Search blog has pretty much nailed the analysis:
Their findings are stunning. If you used to make more than $30,000 but less than $70,000, you’re in [...]
Posted: February 15th, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, In the News.
Comments: none
Toledo Blade: 1 in 4 Toledo residents live in poverty
Life is pretty rough in southeast Michigan these days, but it’s no picnic either for our neighbors and friends in northwest Ohio. Just drive 15 miles on I-75 from Monroe, Mich., to Toledo, Ohio, and here is a headline of the day …
The Toledo Blade is reporting today US ranks Toledo as nation’s 8th-most impoverished.
A [...]
Posted: February 14th, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, In the News.
Comments: none
MLive: Temporary staffing rising in Michigan
The Michigan Job Search blog at MLive has this report: Kelly services sees steady rise in temporary staffing in Michigan.
A snippet:
Michigan’s temporary staffing jobs are on the increase as well, according to Chris Stark, Troy, Michigan-based Kelly Services territory leader for Detroit. “Temporary staffing serves as a bellwether for permanent hiring, and [...]
Posted: February 14th, 2010 under Financial crisis / recession, In the News.
Comments: none

