It is the worst of both world — recession (or regression) among soaring inflation. In my city, there are a half dozen or so “for sale” signs for homes on every street corner. The industrial jobs are gone. Now, I go to the grocery store and find egg plant at $3.50 each. So an eggplant is worth a little less than a gallon of qasoline. The one thing that is striking to me is that the middle class, at least its upper portions, are proud people, and you don’t find out about their difficulties until you read their home is up for auction in a foreclosure sale. The fed is loosening up the cash. But this “monetary” problem was with credit. I’m only sorry Alan Greenspan wasn’t in office to reap the whirlwind he sewed with the inane obsession that monetary policy controls economies. He is the most overrated public servant in my lifetime, which is a long time.

It was inevitable. If a nation of 300 million was going to ship jobs to nations (India and China) with more than 2.4 billion — nearly eight times as many people — that the U.S. standard of living was going to have to meet those of the Asian countries at a lower level than it has been. Why this was not forseen is a commentary on the lack of vision in Washington and on the greed of American corporations who put profit before patriotism. We are only in the beginning stages of this downward drift and it will take extraordinary leadership and innovative projects to escape the worst economic period in America’s history. No one is safe. When the advertising dollars, the first to go, dry up, so does the newspapers, the television companies and the entertainment jobs. Coming soon: emptier theaters, emptier stadiums, empiter parking lots, and bargain stores for clothing and food. Alongside these for the extremely wealthy the upscale shops will continue to sell until the billionaires start getting pinched. And that will happen with collapses in the stock market, among the hedge funds, etc.

The price of food has gone through the roof. The other day on the bus I overheard a conversation between two actors. They both said how much they admired each others show. One commented that the other had lost a lot of wieght and wondered how he did it. It’s called the “poverty diet” was the reply. How true, how true.

Recession? Reading the daily paper and viewing these stories that people have sent in, m’thinks we are sliding into a depression -fast! Thank you Mr. Bush.

Since we have to deal with a new situation (Recession), now let me say that there is a big difference between recycling and reusing. When you buy from a thrift shop you reuse! Reusing is by far the best thing to help the environment, it really saves the energy to recycle stuff and it is instant gratification. Big difference like reading a paper sitting on a table or turning it in for recycling, which probably takes down another tree in the process. Reusing is the way to go for immediate results. Reusing is better than recycling.The only sad thing is that jobs are not helped, it is an emergency act.I enjoy reusing glass jars, it saves the World by the plastic invasion…., did you hear about the plastic soup in the Pacific ocean? Enrico

All the stores in the upscale suburban shopping center where my restaurant is located are experiencing the same slowdown in business. We are all getting a little edgy, trying to stay calm, and telling each other about other recessions we have weathered, but this doesn’t pay the really steep rent bill.

This too shall pass. Occasionally we all need our face slapped to wake up. Over consumption has been rampant for awhile. We can readjust and will, we are srvivors.

Excuse this, but…wowowow! Having read all of the responses to the recession question I now know I am not the lone suffering middle class family provider. I am not new to this struggle. In the 70’s while supporting my husband’s journey through college, I fed my family of six on $16 per week. I am still the reigning queen of the most creative meals made from chicken backs and wings. Ugh! I know the heart pain of telling a child no when they ask for a glass of milk — having to limit each person to one glass per day to have enough milk for the week. I remember counting the cost of groceries as I put them into the cart and checking out and having 2 cents change left over. But today…has it changed? Only somewhat! I now am a retired educator. I have supported my adult child and disabled grandchild for the past 12 years. I have slowly lost all savings, stocks, annuities and any extra left at the end of the month to the care of this grandchild and her mother (who cannot work as she is needed to care for the child). We live on a meager retirement. My home that was once paid for is now a $100,000 mortgage debt. My daughter’s only financial assistance is a very meager child support check once each month. It does not cover the cost of food and clothing for the child — let alone even thinking of anything toward shelter, transportation, assistance due to the grandchild’s disability. I have been l living in a recession for years now. Hope for the future? Nothing on the horizon from the state or fed government. The stimulus checks that are to come in May will go to help pay off past bills. But, I feel more hopeful than others. I’ve lived a lifetime of cautious reflection toward feeding and caring for my family. I will keep on and try to work toward some miracle of paying off this mortgage before I die. It only scares me because I want to leave provision of shelter for my child and grandchild. But, we all have a story to tell and a life to live. Just don’t give up. Learn from your life happenings and try for a better tomorrow. Yes…we are in a recession…I believe a depression can be avoided but only if congress and oil tycoons act quickly!

Pardon me if this repeats my earlier post which I think I accidentally erased. I live in NYC, own a small business and it is thriving, which puzzles (and pleases) me. I keep a low overhead, don’t have debt and have an eye on the troubled economic horizon. It seems a depression is in our future. I spend many hours contemplating options and planning as best I can. In the meantime, life is to be enjoyed even in simple ways: being with friends, cooking and entertaining at home, shopping at thrift shops. What I have noticed most is the price of even simple foods like apples and celery. Like everyone else on the board, going grocery shopping seems more expensive. Fresh vegetables are continuing to go up.

I try to remind myself that “I have everything I need”. Buying more of everything and newer of anything is not what I need. Eating simply, buying locally, and cooking at home is not only better for my family, but also leaves a smaller footprint. I do recognize that many families are feeling the pinch more than I am. But, we are an over-indulgent society that’s been over-consuming for too long.

I still don’t understand, and maybe I’ve been told and just forgot. What drove the housing prices, down? What force or economic dynamic drove down the value of American Real Estate? Is it racist issue? When you sell a house to a black family, the value automatically goes down? I sure hope that has nothing to do with all this. Within days of 9/11 I told my mother, “Stay out of the air. Learn how to do business with your neighbor. And if you have any money, invest it in non-fossil fuels.” (The PR people hadn’t yet invented “renewable energy”.) “Oh, now.” mother scowled. “Mother! We’re at war!” “Oh, now.” “Somebody just flew a plane into the Pentagon, Mother!” I was such a wreck. “That’s an act of war. We’ve probably been at war for the past decade…just nobody told us.” The dollar may be shrinking, but reading over this site it would seem that this particular dynamic of capital-ism is growing like a cancer in our collective neck. Now, we can either wait til it crashes and be forced to give it up…our money, our time, our children, our lives…or we can give it up voluntarily. Nobody hates to work for no pay more than I do. But if a bomb went off somewhere in my building, I wouldn’t have the luxury of laying around in my jammies. I applaud you, Joni & Co. All of you. For investing your dollars here. Letting go in THIS direction. I think that’s the solution really.

Good question. Well for my family I have noticed the price of food, clothing, school supplies, and pet items have gotten more expensive. We were the victims of a crime that is on www.wusa9.com type in story ( UNIFEST VICTIMS SPEAK OUT) I haven’t worked in almost a year. It is really difficult because I thought going to college and getting a degree in legal assistanting would make it easier for me but it has made it. worst. There is no in middle for us poorer only starvation.

I remember the recession from 1989-1993ish. I was teaching aerobics classes and people struggled to have the $5 to attend. It was HARSH on a lot of people. In Arizona the housing market was a lot like it is here today… people’s houses were not worth their loans…. then came the Savings and Loan crisis….. it was much like it is today. The economy was sluggish until the new president (Clinton) took office. Now I am 53 and have been working for $10 an hour for the past two years because my employer provides group health insurance. I found out the hard way that health insurance is necessary when I broke my wrist a few years ago…. my former employer had not finalized my insurance and I ended up being responsible for about $50,000 in medical bills due to an ensuing nerve damage problem. It’s ironic that taxpaying citizens will be held responsible for medical bills but illegals get their services for free. In the U. S. there are some 20 million illegals are here using the govt. services that cannot sustain their numbers. This amounts to a systematic harvesting of our resources, with no end in sight. Consider the law of supply and demand: What happens when demand rises and supply can’t keep up? Prices rise. When 20 million are using these resources, how can they do anything but go up? There are millions of non citizens buying their groceries with debit cards issued from the government (food stamps)…. I stand behind them in the grocery store lines. Would the government of Mexico take care of the U.S. citizens if the situation were reversed? And along these lines, remember when we built the Alaskan pipeline so we could have our own resources for oil? Why do we sell this oil to China and Japan and not use it for our own people? It’s Crazy! Peace and love to us all.