Does the economic crisis affect you?

[W1zzard]

Layoffs left and right, companies reporting losses, are you affected?

[technicks]

Yeah. Lost my job before Christmas.
Many building sites haven been delayed. And the cold weather of the last few weeks doesn't really help either to find another job for a different company.
At least we have a unemployment law here in Holland so i get 70% of my last income for 5 months or so.

[Triprift]

No it doesnt effect me atm as i have a permanant position at work am single (not happy Jan) and have a fair amount of savings.

[DanTheBanjoman]

Mortgages are getting cheaper, which might affect me in a positive way in the near future.

[btarunr]

I'm a G-Man. Relatively immune to layoffs. Thankfully I don't have any debts. The effect it does have is that I'm saving up a lot in fear of rising inflation, which is somewhat affecting my lifestyle.

[95Viper]

Yes...In my area the layoff rate is taking it's toll. Circuit City, Qimondo, Smurfit Stone,Wyeth ,and other plants/businesses laying off and putting a large number of people on the street. The crime rate seems to be rising, as in, more theft, robbery, violent crime, so you have to watch yourself and property a lot more. Property crimes and home break-ins are really on the increase.

Money wise, not much, right now, but may get worse, if costs increase.

[intel igent]

yes it has affected me and other's in the community, the whole world is going to feel the affect's of this dilemma....

it was planned though, here is a good film that shed's some light, IMO anyway's.... http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...83847743189197

[mrw1986]

I'm probably going to be laid off soon (within 60 days) from AT&T.

[EviLZeD]

Yes it has effected me i lost my part time job at woolworths and you know now there gone

[Sasqui]

Quite a few people were let go from my place. Salary/travel freezes & incredibly tight expenses... the usual Been through some downturns before, but this one seems their hardest yet.

[Darknova]

Lost my job at the end of December when the company I worked for collapsed (Woolworths).

I'm about £2500 in debt, and getting less than £100 a month in benefits, and despite 2 years worth of retail experience, and a couple months management experience no one wants to hire me.

Yes, it's affected me horribly. However I have an opportunity to work at the Foreign Commonwealth Office down south, but going to take 3 or 4 months before 1) I find out if I'm accepted, and 2) I get security clearance to get on the site and start work.

[Silverel]

Being from Michigan, most of the people that would be getting layoffs, have already been for months. It's kinda nice, because we're ahead of the curve a little bit. Our worker base is changing to be much more dynamic than simply auto manufacturing and related tech. There are more biochemical jobs coming here related to agriculture. Google has set up shop locally. Our entire state economic policy is fully devoted to diversity in our job economy. We've been suffering for years, and the rest of the country still hasn't caught up. lol. 10.8% unemployment in Michigan.

A lot of that number is from people waiting to go back to work for the auto industry. I'd imagine another 3% would be tacked on, except they decided to step away from their careers and do something else. I'm a pretty common example.

I worked as a quality engineer for a while, got laid off over the summer and finally got into the IT job I wanted. My company is still small (1400-ish), but have had huge gains year after year, over 50%. Our scope for expansion, even in the current economic downturn, will not be fulfilled for at least 5 years. This is the kind of company that Michigan really doesn't have. With everything being so centric around auto, these types of companies are generally outsourced from other states, and overseas. We're 100% Michigan here, and now WE are the ones outsourcing to other states (and sometimes Canadia).

I can think of at least a dozen other industries that simply do not exist here, and are fully brought in from elsewhere. These are the things that I feel states need to look at, and fulfill, to be prosperous. There's always a premium when you deal with national companies over local ones. When the balance falls to the side of nation-wide companies, the local economy becomes dependant, and will ultimately fail. Manufacturing will still be a large part of the economy here, but eventually those 10% will have to realize, it's not going to be automotive that they'll be working.

[freaksavior]

I honestly think if the media and every one would stop prmoting this "economy crisis" everything would go back to normal, people would spend their money without worry.

i think its a bunch of bull crap

[Odin Eidolon]

it affect me even if i am only 18 and even if i live with my parents. we have to keep an eye on the price tag for everything. My mother's car is 14 years old but we cant buy a new one. Both my parents have a pretty good job and the house where we live belongs to us, so we havent got to pay any rent. many friends here have been fired.
People just cant spend money without worry like freaksaviour said because they dont have any money anymore. the supermarkets are empty at the end of the month here in Italy. why? because here we all get paied on the 27th of each month, and lots of people fhave no money already on the 20th.

economy is bugged. there is something wrong with it. When will the virtual value of things reflect their real value?

[technicks]

Originally Posted by freaksavior

I honestly think if the media and every one would stop prmoting this "economy crisis" everything would go back to normal, people would spend their money without worry.

i think its a bunch of bull crap

Yeah don't you hate that. Every day on the news ''We are in a recession, We are in a recession''.

[freaksavior]

Originally Posted by technicks

Yeah don't you hate that. Every day on the news ''We are in a recession, We are in a recession''. Just STFU.

NO WE ARE NOT!!

its in peoples head!! seriously why did this "crisis" hit us? hmm thank you media and freakin news for filling everyone head full of crap!

[DRDNA]

Yes I am feeling the affects ...find out if I still have a job tomorrow.... ....been with the company for over 10 years .....I am from upstate Ny ...NO jobs around here

[Silverel]

Originally Posted by freaksavior

NO WE ARE NOT!!

its in peoples head!! seriously why did this "crisis" hit us? hmm thank you media and freakin news for filling everyone head full of crap!

There's a couple of key indicators actually. Most of them stem from the housing market...

Couple years back feds decided to mandate the minimum amount of low-income loans banks had to make to be fair. Banks started meeting these standards that they were forced to uphold. Turns out, they started to see a whole ton of money from lowering their standards, and were writing loans by the fist-full every day. Smelling huge return investments they started creeping in bad words like 5-year ARM, and balloon payments.Those low-income families defaulted on their loans, banks couldn't eat the horrible horrible losses, construction companies had to immediately halt and fold, and pretty much any bank that dealt these loans fell apart and started scrambling for money. What they got hold of, they never let go.

Banks that don't loan, don't make money. Companies that can't get a loan, don't grow, and occasionally can't pay their employees. The entire new construction boom was a huge loss, since there was an overabundance of new homes still unsold.

It's not some made up lie. It's dramatic, and media loves to run with bad news, but it seriously isn't some huge conspiracy made up to scare people.

You are right in that we should stop talking about how bad things are, and talk about instead what is going on about fixing that. Hence we've turned to our government to figure it out, hence all the TARP funds towards economic stimulation. It took years for the market to bubble and pop. It's going to take a while to collect the pieces and get things back in order. Certainly not the end of the world, but still serious and real.

[Marineborn]

im not really effected im millitary, but it sux

[trt740]

Originally Posted by btarunr

I'm a G-Man. Relatively immune to layoffs. Thankfully I don't have any debts. The effect it does have is that I'm saving up a lot in fear of rising inflation, which is somewhat affecting my lifestyle.

your a federal agent? Thats a acronym for federal agent here

Originally Posted by W1zzard

Layoffs left and right, companies reporting losses, are you affected?

Yes it does being a retired police officer my pension might be effected and since I retired early from injuries, I drive a school bus, because frankly it's not physically demanding and I like kids (plus where I live it's 24.99, a hour payed summers off and you only work a 160 days a years), but a levy may fail soon and I could lose that job as well. This could get very ugly.

[mdm-adph]

Oh, I eagerly await the opinions of the amazing financial experts that are sure to show themselves in this thread, telling us exactly why the collapse has happened and why, if everyone just listened to them, they could fix it.

As for me, nothing's affected me... yet.

[Darknova]

Originally Posted by freaksavior

NO WE ARE NOT!!

its in peoples head!! seriously why did this "crisis" hit us? hmm thank you media and freakin news for filling everyone head full of crap!

Yes we are. The official definition of a recession is a fall in output for 2 successive quarters. As of this month, the UK is officially in a recession.

While I do believe that we shouldn't be being told to save, save, save, but to spend instead (in moderation), it still can't be denied we are in for rough times.

As long as banks are not borrowing/lending between each other then it's much harder to get credit, most business rely on credit to keep themselves a float, a lack of credit means businesses either have to cut back (personnel, company cars etc.) or fold.

The media is making it worse, they did not cause it.

[human_error]

Even though i'm a student with no current job anyway it has hit me, i'm spending a lot less so i can last as long as possible after my graduation this year without getting in any more debt (i think £12k is enough debt for a student...)

The most annoying part of all this is the only 2 places to buy dvds and blu rays in aberystwyth were from woolworths (gone) or w h smith, who got their dvds from woolworths (note i do feel bad for all the poor people who lost their jobs at woolies)..

[trt740]

Originally Posted by human_error

Even though i'm a student with no current job anyway it has hit me, i'm spending a lot less so i can last as long as possible after my graduation this year without getting in any more debt (i think £12k is enough debt for a student...)

The most annoying part of all this is the only 2 places to buy dvds and blu rays in aberystwyth were from woolworths (gone) or w h smith, who got their dvds from woolworths (note i do feel bad for all the poor people who lost their jobs at woolies)..

I used to go to Woolworth in Cleveland as a kid they all just went out of business in the USA last month I believe.

[proletariandan]

Originally Posted by freaksavior

I honestly think if the media and every one would stop prmoting this "economy crisis" everything would go back to normal, people would spend their money without worry.

i think its a bunch of bull crap

I'm not going to be too hard on you, I mean, we aren't all economists...but you clearly know NOTHING about economics. The basics aren't hard to understand, however. Other than the credit crisis that has already decimated the global banking system, the US economy no longer really exists and has been in decline for a while. The tech boom was a temporary boom of actual value production but it has been largely outsourced by now. There are no technical innovations (on the scale of the automobile or microchip or internet) that are going to resuscitate the US economy and we're at the beginning of a very long, very hard awakening to some of the most fundamental contradictions of capitalism. Financialization, which honest economists have been decrying for years, means that the US doesn't really produce much for a country that consumes more than anyone in the world.