Historical Archives
I’ve been following the Edmund Andrews story as it’s been unfolding via various blogs, mostly via Megan McArdle. In case you weren’t following, Andrews excerpted part of his book on his succumbing to the subprime mortgage market in the New York Times. Since the story came out, lots of blame has been going around, a…
I was going to write an upbeat post, given that it’s Friday, and it looks like it’s going to be gorgeous today and through the weekend. There’s a lot to look forward to. But, underlying much optimism is the knowledge that for many people, the world is not looking bright and sunny. I’ve been reading…
I have some personal connection to GM. My father-in-law and his father were long-time employees of the company. Almost 20 years ago, my fil retired early when the division he worked for was sold off to a French company. 20 years ago, we didn’t think GM was doing all that well. While most of Mr.…
Apparently, I missed the memo. I wasn’t supposed to quit my job; I was supposed to be rejoining the workforce. Last week, Judith Warner wrote about the media frenzy of covering the opt-outers having to return to work and give up their 9 a.m. yoga classes. There was actually a Blogging Heads conversation between Rebecca…
Like everyone else, I’ve been outraged by the AIG bonus story. The more I read about it, the more angry I get. As I commented over at 11D, I used to work on a bonus structure. I know what a bonus is for and it’s not for failure. In our scheme, you got a bonus…
As I was driving my son to school this morning, I heard that 82% of the people who’ve lost jobs are men. This is because many of the jobs that have been lost are in traditionally male occupations such as construction and manufacturing. I’ve seen around the online magazines and blogs commentary about how the…
A friend and I were talking over the weekend about longing for better houses. A mutual friend is in the process of buying what sounds like to both of us a fabulous place to live. We both have good houses in good locations, but we both also have things we don’t like about our houses.…
Or, as Dr. Crazy puts it, “Excellence without Money.” I’ve appreciated greatly the conversation going around the blogosphere that Dr. Crazy links to surrounding the issues of asking faculty to take one for the team. In some cases, that means no raises, cutting travel funds, or increasing class sizes. Sometimes it means giving up a…
In the comments, Janice points out this article in the NY Times also discussing the math problems people have when trying to figure out what’s reasonable to save on. Mr. Geeky and I have spent hours in the past doing the back and forth of deciding whether to buy something or figuring out how to…
The radio silence is due in part to illness and in part to watching the train wreck of our failing economy. There are great conversations going on at 11D and and Half-Changed World where people are trying to come to grips with what this whole mess means for them. The short answer, none of us…
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