"Still, it is true that governments can create jobs. It’s just that they’re almost never the jobs that actually help the economy. The government can hire 20 million people to move piles of dirt around or to just sit around if it wants. That will “create jobs.” But it won’t be good for the economy, because those people are not productive for the economy. They won’t be adding value or producing something of value that expands the economy."

He's in the Army now - JSOnline

"As the director of the Berkeley study wrote, looking back in the ’70s, “We have learned that no one becomes mature without living through the pains and confusions of maturing experiences."

"The best thing that can be said for American youth, in or out of uniform, is that it has learned that it must try to make the best of a bad and difficult job, whether that job is life, war, or both,” Time concluded. “The generation which has been called the oldest young generation in the world has achieved a certain maturity."

"In the final three months of last year, the company lost more than $27 million every hour. That’s $465,000 a minute, a yearly income for a median American household every six seconds, roughly $7,750 a second. And all this happened at the end of eight straight years that America devoted to frantically chasing the shadow of a terrorist threat to no avail, eight years spent stopping every citizen at every airport to search every purse, bag, crotch and briefcase for juice boxes and explosive tubes of toothpaste."

Say it ain’t so!

I shouldn’t have read The Economist’s leader on the “jobs crisis” over lunch yesterday. A few snippets:

“An American who loses his job today has less of a chance of finding another one than at any time since records began half a century ago… .

“Morever, many of yesterday’s jobs, from Spanish bricklayer to Wall Street trader, are not coming back. People will have to shift out of old occupations and into new ones…

“The bare truth is that the more easily jobs can be destroyed, the more easily new ones can be created.”

Tough noogies and self-help for journalists

"The days of the $300 jeans are gone, Ball said, according to the AP report. While other high-priced denim brands have been heavily discounted in recent months, he said he was able to avoid such heavy price cuts because of limited distribution that kept demand high. Still, given the new climate, Ball cut the number of styles and decided to offer a less expensive, cleaner look that features two styles for men and two styles for women. The line is priced from $128 to $132. The Recession line, to be offered at Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue, will be sold alongside the premium denim collection."

"When does a recession turn into a depression? When economists start getting fired! Since the experts can’t even agree on how long this downturn will last, let’s hope that starts happening soon. One thing everyone agrees on: The current economic contraction, which began a year ago, will be the longest on record since the Great Depression. The optimistic scenario, voiced in the New York Times, is that it will end by the middle of 2009,"
–

Recessionomics: How Long Will the Greatest Depression Be?

Does this mean I can just sit on my keister with the “It’s shitty times” excuse until summer?


Social Media Predictions 2009.

“Companies that focus on earning love will thrive during hard times, and kick ass when good times return.” - Andy Sernovitz

Unemployment: Worse Than it Looks - BusinessWeek

Awesome.

Things About The Recession That Won’t Suck, #1

caro:

Fewer stupid Web 2.0 company names.