Saturday, January 10, 2009

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Editing an article early this morning, I learned that the "value" of antiques dropped in 2007 for the first time in decades. The market is flooded by people downsizing and selling to generate cash flow. Some guy at Christie's says prices are down 70%.

The stock prices of only two companies on the Dow increased over 2008: McDonalds and Wal-Mart.

In November 2008, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced a temporary freeze on acquisition of new trade division titles. They've been publishing since 1832.

For two months now, every Saturday morning a woman sits on the grass in front of the local Chili's with puppies in her lap and a cardboard sign offering them for sale. She looks like an apple seller from the 1930s.

Economists may call this a recession, but it's pretty darn depressing.

2 comments:

luckyzmom said...

Depressing yes, but I hope we're learning something.

kario said...

It's only depressing when we measure life in terms of dollars and cents. When we look at the hope and opportunity ahead of us as we continue to open up dialogue, I'm feeling pretty good.

Love you!