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When The Going Gets Tough …

The tough go shopping. Boston Herald’s Lauren Beckham Falcone tries to understand why the malls are full if the economy is running on empty. Maybe it’s just the “returnistas” … shop, panic, return … but she notes consumer confidence is up, which is a good start. Now maybe we can get Wall Street off the panic button. In other consumer news, turkey sales are steady. People still plan to eat, wear stuff, play with things. You know what I like about this economy?  We’re two weeks past the election and I just filled my tank for $25, between $2.09 a gallon and 50 cents/gal worth of loyalty card rebates. Long time since that happened. Quick $$$ roundup includes real news and news of the real: 

NYT: Lawmakers to Paulson, more $$$ for homeowners facing foreclosure.

WSJ blogs: Frank’s irritated, but Paulson doesn’t want to encourage banks to foreclose.

AFP: Paulson rules out fed bailout for auto industry.

“The rescue package was not intended to be an economic stimulus or an economic recovery package; it was intended to shore up the foundation of our economy by stabilizing the financial system.”

Paulson on Paulson at NYT: One Challenge at a Time

WSJ: Reid plans to press ahead with Detroit bailout

Globe & Mail: Market up on news Paulson doesn’t want to share (their bailout) wealth.

Reuters: Markets up as HP optimism overrides economy, GM woes.

Hold everything, Reuters, market down again as HP fails to offset economy/GM woes.

Press Association: Paulson, Bernanke’s stout defense. Switchback on strategy: Money to boost banks, lending rather than buying up bad assets.

Malkin: Kabuki theater without a playbook.

Riehl: Frank, “no downside” to spending your money.

Surber: The bailout stabilized the economy. So did the stock market crash of 1929.

Reynolds, helpfully, with pointers on buying a foreclosed house, and how come prices aren’t falling faster? Also offers up a firm “no” when the Heritage Foundation asks, “Do you trust Congress to run the auto industry?”

Driscoll channels George Will on whether we need the Big Three, and wonders what other three things we can do without. 

Vodkapundit with a good question for GM’s Rick Wagoner after Microsoft’s Jerry Yang steps down.

The Hill: Bailout baby to be split … Obama gets half

Reuters: Medvedev, global financial crisis has spread to the real economy. Article doesn’t get into constitutes a real economy in Russia.

Bright spot: Scent marketing soars amid retail collapse. Someone tell Lauren, smells like a column.

Economy might be tanking, but Ace has an Oregon woman with $400,000 to burn on Nigerian email scams.

It all almost makes you want to take matters into your own hands. Protein Wisdom: Citizen outlaw prepares for life under Obamist socialism. Chickens unionized before breakfast.

Bad business practices, labored issues: Mike Greenman’s talks with Attractive Girls Union break down. The cargo pants were just the latest outrage. “At this point these demands are going to be impossible for Mr. Greenman to meet.” Hang in for the bonus clip: “I really don’t remember the incident you’re refering to. Any other questions regarding my smile or my wave need to be directed to my office.”

Ten Best Economic Blogs, via Conservative Grapevine

Meanwhile, MarketWatch: Massachusetts, Washington, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey are leading the US transformation into a “global, entrepreneurial and knowledge- and innovation-based New Economy.” Whatever that means.

The Index builds on the 1999, 2002 and 2007 reports, using 29 indicators to rank each state on the extent to which its economy is structured and operates to effectively compete nationally and globally. It divides the indicators into five categories that best capture what is new about the New Economy: knowledge jobs, globalization, economic dynamism, transformation to a digital economy and technological innovation capacity.

 

The principal driver of the New Economy, according to the Index, is the information technology revolution that, since the mid-1990s, has driven increased productivity and transformed virtually all industries. This “IT engine” is unlikely to slow down anytime soon. For the foreseeable future, the most promising New Economy advances will relate to a state’s ability to use information more effectively.

Apparently it means we’re not actually producing anything, either, but we’re better at it. Mississippi and West Virginia, as in most national pulse checks, are lagging.

Topics: money

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 2:23 pm on Tuesday, November 18, 2008

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