So much for that two-to-three-month improvement trend in the employment data—the decline in payroll employment reaccelerated in June: 467,000 jobs lost according to the employment situation report released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than just about any forecaster expected—and markedly worse than the 322,000 …
Big and Little League Baseball Hit by Recession
Knowing how sports fans from outside the New York metropolitan area feel about the city’s sports franchises (“Evil Empire” anyone?), people from around the U.S. must get a little joy in watching the Big Apple squirm just a bit as it looks to soon be home to five big-time sports venues—and no realistic plans to fill all of the seats on …
The Daily Show bit
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The line about the babies in high heels is a reference to this segment. Beyond that it’s pretty self-explanatory.
Daily Show
I’m the guest tonight. Seriously. I’m filling in for poor Henry Waxman, who had to go to the hospital (he’s feeling better now, though).
Update: It’s all on tape now, and I think it went well. Stewart asks more intelligent questions than pretty much anybody on TV. And now for the information you’ve all been waiting for. The contents of …
It’s a Deal: £1 Hotel Rooms in London
The Hoxton Hotel in London periodically offers rooms for just £1, and the next sale starts tomorrow, July 2, at 12 p.m. London time (7 a.m. EST). At that time, 500 rooms will be offered for £1 per night for reservations between August 1 and October 31, and another 500 rooms will be offered for £29 (about $48). More info here.
Peer-to-peer lending and the unreliability of good-looking people
Peer-to-peer lending is the would-be Web 2.0 replacement for our naughty banking system. In recent months I’ve had visits from both Prosper CEO Chris Larsen and Kiva CEO Premal Shah. Larsen waxed eloquent about how Prosper’s peer-to-peer approach amounted to a better, more transparent alternative to loan securitization. Shah talked about …
The Queen, Amish Latest to Experience Economic Troubles
Apparently, some members of the Amish community in Indiana have been living beyond their means, buying second homes in Florida, splurging on fancy horses, and pimping out their carriages with velvet and LED lighting.
Gas for $1.49 a Gallon, Guaranteed
Hyundai has a promotion starting today: If you buy or lease a new Hyundai between now and August 31, you’ll receive a special gas card that guarantees you’ll pay $1.49 a gallon for one year. The promo would have been an even more enticing a year ago, during the days of $4 a gallon, but still, it’s a pretty decent deal if you’re in the …
What We’re Buying More of During the Recession
With few exceptions, people are spending less nowadays. Spending is down on everything from home improvement to organic milk to Mother’s Day gifts. So, obviously, the recession affects the way all sorts of people—such as an unemployed couple, a sports CEO, an ER doctor, and others profiled in a Time package—make decisions about how, …
Scoring the Barry Ritholtz-John Carney CRA debate
The John Carney-Barry Ritholtz debate on whether the Community Reinvestment Act caused the financial crisis has a strangely retro feel to it. It’s just so … 2008. It started with Clusterstock’s Carney explaining, in a long, thoughtful post, why he had changed his mind about the 1977 law meant to bring more bank lending to poor and …
Great news: your house is worth 18% less than last year
House prices are falling slightly less fast, according to today’s Case-Shiller data. Let’s celebrate? The 20-city home-price index was still down 18.1% in April (compared to April 2008), but that was an improvement over March’s 18.7% decline. Yale economist Robert Shiller, he of Case-Shiller fame, has been hitting the airwaves, talking …
A Reminder That Many Gift Cards Go Unused
As the WSJ reports, many states are boosting revenues by collecting so-called “abandoned property,” including unused retail gift cards. If a card is not used in as few as two years after being purchased, the states can claim the card’s value.