Looking for work is a daunting task, regardless of the economic climate, but how do you muster sympathy for those at the top and bottom of the chain when so many in the middle are struggling?
NewsHour’s Paul Solman reports on executives and ex-convicts who are in an oddly similar position. Former execs with extensive networks report job hunting for over 30 hours a week.
For the ex-cons, the tables are turned, but the circumstances still leave them jobless.
“I’ve tried several times. I mean, I’ve gone, I’ve filled out applications thinking that I’m going to get the job, but they won’t hire me,” ex-convict Larry Wohlgemuth told Solman.
How is the average person faring? Is the stimulus money creating solid, full time opportunities? ProPublica.org’s ShovelWatch finds that “States are using the money for short-term projects, filling budget gaps rather than paying for long-term improvements.”
Those fed up with the search have started turning to independent consulting. But can a newly minted consultant make a go of it in the current environment? On the Media talks to Nick Corcoldilos, a headhunter who highlights some of the advantages and disadvantages of going solo.
To put it all in perspective, consider that 2.5 billion people live on $2 per day. Today’s Planet Money podcast looks at communities around the world that are surviving on very little, but still make room for traditions and ceremonies of cultural importance.
Do you do your banking online? What about using sites like Mint.com to keep your family’s finances in order? Have you been shopping around for bigger savings online rather than running around to local stores ?
If there was any question about the growing relationship between money and the Web, a new report from The Pew Internet & American Life project shows without question that more and more, people are relying on the web to handle their money – and help cope with the effects of the recession.
One interesting side note: The report found that 69% of Americans are using the Web to get information about the recession.
But not everyone has the access to broadband that allows them to use the web at a speed that’s useful for managing money and / for financial news and information. Patchwork Nation’s Dante Chinni writes that this may allow newspapers in more remote areas to survive.
“Less-connected places may allow newspapers to stick around longer, since more people in these places prefer to get their news on paper rather than wait for slow Web connections.”
Conventional wisdom says the income divide prevents connectedness, but Chinni says the Patchwork Nation research suggests the digital divide is largely geographic:
“Maybe most interesting, these numbers suggest a different kind of digital divide in the US – one based less on economic issues than on ones of physical place. This kind of digital divide mirrors America’s urban-rural split.”
Perhaps this divide will be lessened by the $7 billion broadband stimulus package, meant to build infrastructure in rural areas. The USDA maps the areas in rural America that are eligible for the Broadband Initiatives Program, which is distributing those stimulus
It can be a challenge to see where stimulus money is going – and how the the government is using the web to track it. ProPublica examined the accuracy of the federal government site Recovery.gov and found that tracking those funds is “a job worthy of Sherlock Holmes.”
Will a publicly-financed health care system be a further burden on the economy, or can President Obama get a bill passed that doesn’t increase the federal deficit?
President Obama discusses his health care reform initiative, bipartisanship and deadlines in an exclusive interview with NewsHour’s Jim Lehrer. Watch Video
The MediaBistro blog FishbowlDC reported that Lehrer was also doing his part to make a child feel better — by inviting a 17-year-old leukemia patient to a NewsHour taping.
At WNYC, a different Lehrer — Brian Lehrer of The Brian Lehrer Show — also focuses on health care reform and spoke with New York Congressman Charlie Rangel about whether he thinks a health care bill will be passed before Congress’ August recess.
But lobbyists are still at the center of the game. Marketplace looks at how any public plan could affect private insurers and drug companies, along with the people who pitch for them.
It’s summer vacation time, when families hit the road and see some of the nation’s most treasured places — national parks. While stimulus funds help keep the parks ready for visitors, many who live near these well-preserved areas are facing hard times.
In Flagstaff, Arizona, near the Grand Canyon, nearly one in three people need government assistance each month, NPR station KNAU reports. Many residents come to Flagstaff from the surrounding Navajo reservations because the city has better resources, but it’s hard to stay.
““We have single parents working two jobs…sometimes these families are just one paycheck away from being homeless.”
In Montana, Yellowstone Public Radio’s series on economic hardship in the region last year examined homelessness and job loss in the Yellowstone National Park area. Their reports also addressed “big Sky Grants” given to laid-off local residents and a bill that protects the residents of mobile home parks.
At the same time, federal funds are being freed up to keep park rangers employed so the parks run smoothly all summer long.
WNYC and PRI’s The Takeaway reports on a project that will put a new roof on the visitors’ center at the Dinosaur National Monument in Utah.
Do you plan to visit a National Park this summer? How are the parks in your area weathering the economic climate? Share your national parks stories here.
For many, the splurges on fancy dinners, trips to exotic locations, and expensive concerts are more and more limited due to the economy. But people still need to have some fun. So what are service providers doing to make entertainment more affordable?
Drive-in movies all but disappeared from the American landscape in the 80’s and 90’s, and a whole generation has missed out on the kitsch culture of the drive-in, experiencing it only through, well, movies and television that featured the drive-in. Could it make a comeback?
Robert Smith reports on NPR’s Morning Edition about cheap thrills at one drive-in theater – but it’s one of the few remaining in use in the U.S.
“My daughters are already asleep in the back seat. But that’s one of the beauties of a cheap thrill. If I had paid the $121 per seat for The Little Mermaid on Broadway, I’d be prying those cute eyes open right now. As it is, I can tilt the seat back and chill.”
In New York City, the ultimate local amusement park of days past was Coney Island, which has fallen into disrepair in recent years. But as WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show reports, redevelopment plans are gaining support and could bring low-cost entertainment back to Brooklyn.
Another cheap treat is a trend that started a while ago in cities around the U.S. – gourmet cupcakes. As a guest on Marketplace’s Whiteboard video blog, actress Aisha Tyler (of “24”, “CSI”, etc), suggested giving away 9,000 cupcakes to boost the economy.
Tyler’s idea single-handedly takes on the baking industry:
“By going out and spending some $36,000 on cupcakes, Aisha is juicing the economy in a significant way. For a start, whatever bake shop she patronizes will be very happy to have her business: maybe the staff will get a pay rise (they’ll certainly feel more secure with an order like that); maybe the shop will go out and hire some new people. The profits from the sale might go to placing some ads in the local papers (heaven knows they need the cash) or perhaps to refurbish the store or buy some new signage or equipment.”
On a somewhat smaller (but more realistic) scale, a secret cupcake peddler in San Francisco is creating her own cottage industry, making office workers excited for Wednesdays, as Amanda Dyer for KALW reports.
What are some free or cheap things you and your family are choosing over pricey treats in the current economic climate?
From Twitter