We have recovered less than half of what we’ve lost in wealth.
Households in the United States lost roughly $16 trillion in net worth since the recession started in 2007. According to the latest Fed data, we regained about $14.6 trillion, or roughly 91 percent, of it. But let’s not break out the champagne glasses just yet.
Continue reading… “The wealth we lost and regained since the recession started in 2007”
Charles Hugh Smith, author of The existing social and financial order is crumbling because it is unsustainable on multiple levels. The central state is not the Millennials’ friend, it is their oppressor.
Congratulations class of 2013: you weren’t the class of 2010.
For most undergrads, college graduation is an occasion to celebrate, but in this economy we know it’s also a time of gnawing, career-oriented dread for plenty others. Even at Harvard, where Oprah is sharing some words of wisdom at commencement this week, just 61 percent of soon-to-be grads told the Crimson that they had an actual job lined up. One in ten said they had no set plans for the future.
Continue reading… “History of the job market for new college graduates”
In 1974, Concert-goers push a stalled VW bus.
We can pity the baby boomer generation, blamed in their youth for every ill and excess of American society and now, in their dotage, for threatening to sink the economy and perhaps Western civilization itself.
Continue reading… “Why the baby boomer generation is the most hated”
Houston, Texas
Texas dominated the recession, crushed the recovery, and in a new analysis of jobs recovered since the downturn, Houston, its largest city, stands apart as the most powerful job engine in the country — by far.
Continue reading… “Houston is America’s #1 job creator”
A growing percentage of U.S. citizens engage in entrepreneurship.
Babson and Baruch Colleges issued a report last week that points to an exciting trend in the U.S. economy: The percentage of adults involved in startups in 2012 hit 13%–a record high since Babson began tracking entrepreneurship rates in 1999.
Continue reading… “Entrepreneurship in the U.S. hits a record high”
81% of people in the surveys said that “power today is about influence rather than control.”
When people around the world were surveyed about the ideal modern leader, 64,000 people in 13 countries–from China to Canada–wished their leaders were slightly less polarizing and more collaborative.
Continue reading… “Future leaders will be flexible, selfless, and more collarborative: Study”
Travel can affect a company’s bottom line.
A new study conducted by Oxford Economics and commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association has found businesses that continued to send employees on the road during the recession were more profitable than those that cut back on business travel.
Continue reading… “Cutting business travel hurts profits: Study”
We should want more college graduates. But we should also want fewer students at colleges with high drop-out rates.
During the Great Recession college enrollments went up. Since 2012, college enrollment has gone down. According to the National Student Clearinghouse, Spring 2013 enrollments fell 2.3 percent from last year. The drop-off has sped up since the Fall.
Continue reading… “Good news: College enrollment is falling faster than we thought”
Luxury goods ecommerce soars.
The worldwide appetite for luxury goods doesn’t seem to have been slowed down by concerns about the state of the global economy, according to research released by business consulting firm Bain & Company in October 2012. In fact, total demand for luxury goods has remained very strong, with worldwide revenues estimated to have grown 10% in 2012.
Continue reading… “Global luxury goods ecommerce market rises by 25%”
Raymond Alvarez: A strange thing happened on the way to the real estate apocalypse. It didn’t happen.
Pundit and journalist alike had everyone looking the wrong way. But, who can blame them? How can you ignore the plethora of foreclosure signs on the way into the office? It turns out they weren’t looking hard enough for more signs.
Continue reading… “The apocalypse that wasn’t”
Student debt is a dangerous bubble that is piling unprecedented levels of debt on young people.
Houses and cars power recoveries. And young people aren’t buying either. That’s a New York Fed study conclusion and that can be easily read as blaming student debt for holding back the recovery by squashing home and auto sales.
Continue reading… “Are student loans wrecking the economy?”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
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