OverLinked » recession http://overlinked.com Article's I'm Currently Reading Wed, 16 Nov 2011 20:01:27 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Visualize the ’09 Credit Crunch http://overlinked.com/2009/02/visualize-the-09-credit-crunch/ http://overlinked.com/2009/02/visualize-the-09-credit-crunch/#comments Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:52:40 +0000 LP http://overlinked.com/?p=25
 
]]> http://overlinked.com/2009/02/visualize-the-09-credit-crunch/feed/ 0 How Visa Gift Cards can Save the Economy http://overlinked.com/2009/02/how-visa-gift-cards-can-save-the-economy/ http://overlinked.com/2009/02/how-visa-gift-cards-can-save-the-economy/#comments Fri, 20 Feb 2009 16:44:08 +0000 LP http://overlinked.com/?p=8 Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize winning economist, recently noted in an interview that the stimulus package simply isn’t big enough to cover the current need.  While this is a hot topic, I think one of his points that I think everyone could agree on is the simple psychology of a recession.  When the government starts giving away money to encourage spending in an uncertain economic climate, the natural tendency is to save.  From the interview:
“So you’ve only got $600 billion to fill a $2.9 trillion hole.” What’s more, he argued that $350 billion of the package slated for tax cuts will provide some, but not much, stimulus traction because households are likely to save rather than spend large portions of it.  That’s the “paradox of thrift,” Krugman noted. Normally, encouraging savings is a great plus for an economy. But in a downturn, households (and businesses) worry about the future more, and decide to conserve resources and spend less — just when spending is needed most.
If we know this will occur en masse, then why can’t we steer the stimulus using specific payment forms.
 
In other words, Visa Gift Cards!  The last time Americans received a check we received it from the Bush Administration via the US Treasury in the form of a check.  We had to deposit these or cash them in a bank.  However, just by taking a recent encounter with the government as inspiration, the FTC recently conducted their HD TV Converter box rebate program using gift cards.  Why could not any consumer-focused stimulus be conducted in the same way.  I would be more inclined to go down to Home Depot and Fry’s and spend several hundred dollars on some landscaping materials and maybe a huge HDTV, if it was in the form of a gift card.
]]> http://overlinked.com/2009/02/how-visa-gift-cards-can-save-the-economy/feed/ 0 US Unemployment Higher than France ? http://overlinked.com/2009/02/us-unemployment-higher-than-france/ http://overlinked.com/2009/02/us-unemployment-higher-than-france/#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2009 20:10:57 +0000 LP http://overlinked.com/?p=6 Recently the BBC reported that US Unemployment reached 7.6% in January 2009, a rise of 0.4% from December.  As Americans, we have to put this into some perspective.  France’s unemployment rate was exactly 7.6% just a few months ago .  Since many in the EU expect France’s unemployment rate to reach over 10% this coming year, and as other countries like Spain brace for over 13% unemployment, it leaves many to wonder whether the U.S. will undergo a similar year. 
 
This should put into perspective the tenuous nature of any economy, whether they be ultra-capitalist like the U.S. or more social-capitalist like France.
 
Great time to be in Forex – if you know what you’re doing.
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