Desperate times?

How can you tell if a company is in trouble? Massive discounts and constant sales might be a good sign. At that standard, Jos. A. Banks must be prepping for bankruptcy any day now. That or they really can afford to give away a suit, two shirts, and two ties — all free with the purchase of one suit. Yep, it's a clothing twofer.

Good luck staying afloat, guys.

brief political note...

I've patiently waited to see whether Geithner would prove to be a good choice for Treasury. I worried about the appointment of Larry Summers, however, and now I'm starting to worry about the whole venture. Rather than listening to Nobel Prize-winning economists, the Obama administration seems to be relying on the same wrong-headedness that has got us in this mess in the first place.

I don't pretend to know much about banking and economics, but I do know people who've lost their jobs and others who are struggling to keep going. I also know that my living costs are higher than they were a year ago and that my own (small) retirement investments are worth much less than they were a year ago. Will the plan being put forward really help us?

Madoff, the economy, collateral damage, absurdities, and other odds and ends

I've been remiss about updating things lately, and a little caught up in the juggling act of life. But I've been missing the chance to post, too. Things occur to me, and I make a mental note to conjure up a fully wrought post. Then life gets in the way again—the kid needs to go to school, dishes need to be done, a project crops up at work, sleep happens, the dog needs to go out, dinner needs to get made, and the list goes on.

Regardless, here's a quick addenda to jumpstart my brain at the end of the week:

• Brandeis's decision to close the Rose Art Museum — The news that Brandeis would be closing the Rose arrived in alum's email boxes before it hit the news wires. In the email, President Reinharz explained that it was a difficult but necessary decision for the long-term future of the university, its endowment and its ability to fund student need. More than a few alumni disagreed and a the hue and cry hit newspapers and blogs. I'm still split on the matter. I understand the university's need to secure additional revenue sources, particularly given the damage done to major donors by the Madoff scandal. At the same time, I fear that they will be mortgaging a part of the museum's cultural and intellectual currency for a finite gain.


• Madoff, Thain, and Gordon Gecko — Can we put the Gilded-Age-style greed that came of vogue in the Eighties out of our misery, please? The damage done by hedge funds and Ponzi schemes to our common good (see above) is going to have long-lasting effects on the institutions that keep our culture alive and will do long-term damage to the non-profit organizations that support all ends of our society. The exuberant greed of Thain and countless other CEOs, investment bankers, and their ilk leaves them complaining over smaller bonuses while the rest of us see the value of our investments and employers plummet because they've sucked the money out of the system to line their silk pockets.


• The First Week — Two acts please me more than any other in the Obama administration's first week: their message to Citicorp that taking delivery of a new $50MM corporate jet would not be acceptable, and the message that banks were unethical in doling out billions in bonuses while taking billions in TARP funds.
  
• Waste Management — I've decided to reduce my contribution to the waste stream. This is not to say I am recycling more, because I don't think that would actually be possible. No. I'm taking every opportunity I can to use silverware, plates, bowls and mugs at work. At home, I've begun to use reusable containers in Banana's lunch. A co-worker asked me if I was doing this because I am "Green." (The quotation marks were audible in her voice.) I said yes, but the reality is that I see this as an ethical decision rather than just a green decision. By reducing the amount that must be moved to a landfill or recycled, I've reduced the amount of energy used. By reducing the amount in landfills even by a few items a day, I've contributed a bit to leaving Banana and her children's children a cleaner, nicer earth.


• Global Warming Is Irreversible. — A study was released this week that I can't imagine ever being released during the Bush administration. Basically, it details that global warming can't be reversed once it's begun. What makes this even more frightening is that all evidence collected in recent years points to the fact that warming is happening faster than expected. If all of this is true — and there is no compelling reason to ignore it any longer — our grandchildren's world is going to be a radically different place than the world we live in now. Unless we take stricter actions. Now.


• Mini daffodils make the kitchen a nicer place. — In the midst of last weekend's stomach-flu-addled Trader Joe's run, Banana asked for a pot of mini daffodils. We sorted through until we found one with a couple blooms and several more on the way. It now lives on the breakfast bar, and there is something very calming and pleasant about looking at growing flowers in the morning sunlight.

So there you have it. Stay tuned for a bit of Friday Fun...

oddly sad

The post on Craigslist is titled "i need a digital camera for my daughter for christmas." In it, the poster offers: "i have 2 leather jackets for trade i mens dress jacket medium ,i ladies dress jacket size small both black." I may be reading this completely wrong, but it strikes me as very emblematic of our current moment that someone is looking to barter his and his wife's leather jackets for a digital camera for their daughter. I know what it's like to feel so close to the bone. Had I been able to upgrade to the SLR I'm looking for, I would offer him my point-and-shoot for free...

wow

Scary news today. Very scary. And now the Dow is down 537.7 points at 3:00.

economic madness

This interview on Morning Edition this morning is a maddening exercise in double-speak. When confronted with McCain's description of himself as "fundamentally a deregulator," McCain adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin performs some astonishing rhetorical flips to explain how McCain understands "leveling the playing field." Then later in the interview, Holtz-Eakins performs an even more astounding feat when he suggests that more transparency about CEO pay will lower pay inequity between corporate CEOs and "average" Americans.

Listen to it for the sunshine metaphor alone. But more importantly, listen to it for yet another reason why McCain cannot be allowed to win this election.

the pinch?

This comes from the No Shit Sherlock department:

Across the United States, consumers like Norris are finding that grocery shopping has become a sobering experience as their budgets fail to keep pace with food costs.
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Prices continue to rise. A survey conducted by the American Farm Bureau Federation in February showed that in the beginning months of this year, the cost of 16 grocery items, including flour and cheddar cheese, was $45.03, up $3.42, or 8 percent, from the fourth quarter.
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Increasingly, shoppers like Wikholm must wait until payday to load up on groceries and then hunker down until the next paycheck.

Unfortunately, this experience is all too real. Taken in small doses, a jump of a dime or two on the price of pasta (from $.69 to $.89 at Trader Joe's) doesn't seem critical. When every item begins to jump a little bit and some jump by a dollar or more, the whole hit on a grocery run can grow, as it has for me, from $125 for two weeks to $160 or more for that same two week period. Couple that with gas prices that finally hurt, and the budget begins to look tighter and tighter.

More times than I would like, I have had to tell Banana that we can't get things or I've had to shift budget items to make a few small clothing purchases (kids grown, you know!) fit. Savings and extra payments on credit card balances are out the window, too.

What amazes me is that this is even news. Scratch that. What actually amazes me is that stories like this come out, but there are still pundits and politicians who will argue that we aren't in a recession and push the line that the economy will be just fine. As the cliche goes, be careful when the price of milk rises...