A New Era of Hope

I cannot recall an inauguration that has gotten people so excited. A friend of mine is going to one of the many balls tonight and got a lot of help from her online friends in finding just the right dress and shoes. We've taken to calling her Cinderella.

My kids will be watching at school. My American colleagues in the UK will be going together to a bar to watch. My boss is expecting us to watch in the US office as well.

Soon-to-be President Obam: You've got yourself a tall order. A story on NPR last week was talking about a return to Keynesian economics--you know, economist who said No, actually, the market doesn't always work itself out--sometimes we need to kick start it.
Not everybody agrees, of course. It took World War II to pull the US out of the Great Depression.

But it seems to me that public works projects are a great idea until the economy gets itself sorted out. Everyone know our bridges and highways are crumbling. These are public goods that require public funds. If housing is overbuilt, let's put labor to work fixing that stuff. They'll make good wages, and maybe will be able to buy stuff, and maybe the retail sector will hire some people back, and maybe eventually people will be able to take out mortgages again, by which time the banks will figure out that they can make money the old fashioned way: by lending to people who have sound prospects.

Jobs, Mr. President-Elect, Jobs.

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The Guardian Asks if Women are the VIctims of the Economic Downturn

Worth a read. Provocatively "What if Lehman Brothers had been Lehman Sisters?"

Santa Strategies

This post has been included in the Carnival of Family Life Trivia Edition at All Rileyed Up. Welcome and have a look around, maybe subscribe to my RSS feed if you like what you see. Then, when you've had enough of my trivia, head back over to Riley's for more on what families are up to this week.

Photo by Vanessa Pike-Russell

We had an awesome experience at the mall tonight. The kids had wanted to see Santa over the weekend. I don't DO Black Friday. As a matter of fact, we managed to stay away from stores altogether this weekend. My plan, and it was a good one, was to see Santa late on a weeknight to skip the crowds.

So after work tonight, we drove up to the mall. We got there at 7. And there was no line to see Santa. None. Nada. Now I don't know whether that was because the economy is officially in recession as of today, or whether folks were home nursing their spending hangovers from the weekend. But we had agreed that for the first time we were not going to spend the $30 on pictures with Santa this year.

I wasn't sure if that's kosher. I mean, Santa's helpers and photographers need to get paid and all. But Santa's charming helpers asked right up front if we were there for pictures or just to visit. And Santa charmed my sometimes skeptical kids with stories of elves, and cookie breaks, and efficiency experts. There was nobody behind us and nobody in front of us, and frankly, I think Santa was feeling a little lonely.

So other than the money we spent at the food court (we did have to feed the rugrats after all), the whole Santa experience was, um, let's see, FREE.

Not to mention magical. Thanks, Santa.

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Welcome to Economic Crunch

Hi, I'm Polly Poorhouse. You probably know me. You may be my boss, my cubicle mate, my kid's teacher, my neighbor, or my babysitter. Or maybe we sat next to each other on an airplane, on a speaker's panel, or in church choir. You may have bought something from my husband's store, or chatted with me at the dog park. Maybe we've met in an online forum or at an arts or library event. Did we go to grad school, college, or high school together? Maybe you have been in one of the graduate classes I've taught.

But you probably don't know some of my secrets. Like I'm one of more than 700,000 Americans who received a foreclosure notice in the 2nd quarter of this year (or so says RealtyTrac). Like I have a close relative that is homeless. (They are harder to count, but there appear to be close to 700,000 as well according to the 2007 Annual Homeless Assessment Report conducted by National Alliance to End Homelessness).

How did this happen to middle class, intelligent, well-educated people?

Well, we obviously screwed up. I got laid off--three times. My business failed, leaving me sadled with unpaid debt and unpaid taxes. My husband lost his job. My relative has an undiagnosed anxiety disorder. Yes, we are part of Phil Gramm's ("nation of whiners") people who dug ourselves into holes and are having tough time grabbing on to those sliding rocks to get out.

We have told a few loving friends and family members of our situation, but not our neighbors, colleagues, or casual acquaintances.

We are lucky in many ways. Despite the financial stress, my husband and I have turned to each other for comfort and support rather than away from each other in anger. Our wonderful children are adjusting to life without piano lessons, new clothes and school supplies, and toys. We have each found new jobs, although combined they do not pay enough for us to erase our debt in the short term. We will be OK. But the journey is a bear. Just when we think we have dodged one bullet, another zooms towards us.

This blog will document our journey back to economic stability. I'm not looking for advice. But I know we are not alone. Maybe our story can help you.

With frugal fondness,

Polly Poorhouse