All Blog Posts from Econwatch

This post by Jill Schlesinger originally appeared on CBS' MoneyWatch.com.

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In preparation for the eat-a-thon that is Thanksgiving, I do like to give thanks for the big stuff - health, loving mate, wonderful family, great country with wonderful troops who give so much to all of us and an amazing city that despite the high taxes, is still worth it.

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This post by Jill Schlesinger originally appeared on CBS' MoneyWatch.com.

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In today's "Reality Check" (Click here to view the video) MoneyWatch Editor-in-Chief Eric Schurenberg and I discussed the economic smack-down of the moment: inflation vs. deflation.

Although most economists understand that a recession, especially one highlighted by significant deleveraging, is deflationary, the worry is that the massive government spending spree (trillions of dollars since Lehman's collapse) will lead to higher inflation down the line.

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Nearly a quarter of U.S. mortgage holders owe more on their loans than their houses are worth, according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal.

Data from First American CoreLogic, a Santa Ana, Calif.-based real-estate information company, shows that in the third quarter of 2009 almost 10.7 million households had negative equity in their homes.

Despite good news on the house resales front — it was reported Monday that home sales surged for the second month in a row in October, climbing to the highest level in 2½ years, due in part to a first-time buyers' tax credit — the Journal's Ruth Simon and James R. Hagerty write that this swelling of "underwater mortgages" threatens the prospects of a sustained housing recovery.

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Fewer Americans say they'll be tightening their financial belts during the holiday season this year, a private study shows.

The Consumer Federation of American and the Credit Union National Association released the results of a joint survey forecasting the holiday shopping season. Among the chief findings: 43 percent of consumers say they'll cut back on holiday spending. That's better than the 55 percent who said the same thing a year ago amid the throes of a massive national recession.

The improved data, however, still lags behind 2000 to 2007 figures.

Americans are still worried about their financial situations – 36 percent say they're worse off this year, 19 percent say they're better off and 44 percent say their situations are about the same.

But fewer consumers are worried about meeting their monthly debt payments – 24 percent compared with 28 percent a year ago.

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The CFA and CUNA also offer some common-sense advice to avoid breaking the bank during the holidays.

Among the tips:

• Prepare a budget and make a price list of the gifts you plan to buy.

• Shop around for deals using the Internet or even the phone.

• Avoid overloading on debt. Pay cash when able, but if you use a credit card, pay of the debt as quickly as possible.

• Shop for next year's holidays right after this year's are over. Great bargains are to be had.

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That knock on the door may be Microsoft, wanting to de-index you — that is, if you are a media organization whose news content is being searched and indexed by Google.

The Financial Times reports that Microsoft has had discussions with News Corp. over the possibility of paying the media company to "de-index" its news Web sites from Google.

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This post by Jill Schlesinger originally appeared on CBS' MoneyWatch.com.

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I always get nervous when three or more people who don't study the economy or financial markets say exactly the same thing. This past weekend, it was a teacher, a lawyer and a doctor, all of whom proclaimed: "we're definitely headed for a double-dip recession!"


Every time someone says "double dip" I can't help think of a soft serve ice cream cone plunging into that delicious chocolate coating not once, but twice. That said, are fears of a double dip warranted?

One would have to be brain-dead to not consider the possibility of something bad - really bad, derailing the progress that has occurred since the beginning of this fiasco. Here's a just a few ideas to get you started: a commercial real estate collapse could make the residential market look like a walk in the park; unemployment could get much worse; a large multi-national bank bites the bullet; the Fed blows it; and the weekend favorite, this whole recovery is in your head.

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This post by Jill Schlesinger originally appeared on CBS' MoneyWatch.com.

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This post by Jill Schlesinger originally appeared on CBS' MoneyWatch.com.

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I used to live in Rhode Island, which is why I still take an interest in what's happening there. Little Rhody has gotten crushed in the recession. The last vestiges of its manufacturing base have been vaporized and the contraction in housing have contributed to the state's dismal employment situation.

You'll note from this seal, that "hope" is the motto of RI, as in "I sure do hope the unemployment rate starts to drop soon!" Today, Rhode Islanders poured themselves a little coffee milk to celebrate: according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Regional and State Unemployment rate report, RI unemployment fell for the first time in nearly three years, dropping by a 0.1% to 12.9% in October.

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This post by Jill Schlesinger originally appeared on CBS' MoneyWatch.com.

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While ambling around the Bureau of Labor Statistics site (a fantastic trove of information), I stumbled upon a Consumer Expenditure Survey that details how Americans spent their 2008 Economic Stimulus Payments, which were actually IRS tax rebates.

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This post by Jill Schlesinger originally appeared on CBS' MoneyWatch.com.

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Special Inspector General for TARP (aka "SIG TARP") Neil Barofsky said something we've all known for a while: the government gave away the farm when AIG failed.

If you recall, AIG's failure meant that the companies on the other side of all of its contracts (counterparties) were going to be left holding the bag. Under normal cases of bankruptcy, the court would impose haircuts to the amount of money due to counterparties, but because AIG didn't actually declare bankruptcy, the counterparties claimed that they were owed 100 cents of every dollar. The only bank that even considered taking a haircut was UBS - the Swiss, for goodness sakes - hard to imagine that a Swiss bank could make US banks look bad, but here's a case in point.

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