To Andy in Connecticut: Give the guy a break, will ya?

To Scott in California: I don’t mind seeing badly run companies disappear, but many of the casualties are good companies that are collateral damage. I do care when hard-working people suffer the consequences while CEOs waltz out the door with bags of money. They should be drawn and quartered.

To John in Maryland: Boy, we know the Reagonomics bandwagon has a reserved seat in your name. The old “trickle down” theory, (aka “Voodoo Economics” as described by Poppy Bush), has never benefited ANYONE but those at the very top of the income scale. W’s tax cuts have only exacerbated the abominable disparity between the economic elite and the other 95% of Americans.

To Paul: I see you have now made a video on this topic. Oh my. Someone at CNN had a new camera to try out, right? Seriously, why do you waste your time, and your readers’ time, debating the symantics? Just present the facts and let us decide for ourselves what to call it.

The latest economic news from CNN? Unemployment 6.1% (5 year high). Job losses 2008 to date 605,000. Homes in foreclosure 2Q08 1.25 million. There is no turnaround in sight and worse news will come as the financial industry continues to collapse.

Your second mistake, was assuming that those “Master’s Degrees” were Golden Wonka Tickets. I mean let’s be honest; you mentioned your “Master’s Degrees” about 15 times today, which leads me to believe that you’re the type of person who likes to be judged on paper, with paper. Which makes it much easier to cross your name off a dot matrix printout because you’re separated from your peers by decimals instead of character traits and a tangible portfolio.

Your 3rd mistake, is sitting around getting red-faced about all of this instead of creating a solution. Business bankruptcy is at a lofty +29% … but new business filings are at an even loftier +41%. Again, perception seems to win out over substance … courtesy of our friend Mr. La Monica and his minions, I’m sure. With a little help from the scattered anecdotal such as yours, of course.

I’m not sure if you’re quite desperate enough to take MY advice, but I’ll offer it anyway. Throw your “Master’s Degrees” in the trash and jumpstart a new career where you’re less likely to be judged on the grade you earned in Latin 15 years ago.

As a LAST resort, you could always become a daily columnist and content editor for CNN.com. I can’t imagine their requirements are all that tough.

Good luck either way.

Frankly, I do not at all see the economy recovering. I will reiterate that everywhere I look, companies are either laying people off or are on hiring freezes. Now that most of the slaughtering is done via mass layoffs, most companies are on hiring freezes or at the very least very reluctant to hire anybody.

I was laid off from my job, not fired. If you were educated enough, you would know the difference. And yes, I blame the shoddy economy for the bad state I am in. I have two Master’s degrees and I cannot find work; if it was a good economy, it shouldn’t be like this.

Maybe you think I sound like sour grapes, but I am absolutely frustrated at the situation and it has taken both a psychological and economic toll on me personally. Even my parents are beginning to lose patience. I have done everything right: I went to college, then subsequently earned two Master’s degrees in two years. Have worked three years, and I was, along with many others in my company, unceremoniously laid off.

It has gotten to the point where if you, Andy of New Haven, CT, were telling me the truth, maybe you can lend a hand. I really need help in this situation and I’m getting desperate. A person with two Master’s degrees and three years work experience should not be unemployed.

I cannot accept the economy is recovering until I can find employment or at least I can find companies that are actually hiring.

Is that some sort of joke? This dude is a doom & gloomer, through and through.

As for Davis … sounds a little like sour grapes to me. I just earned my second consecutive 10% pay increase and our company has a laundry list of new-hires. I imagine I’d be pissed off and looking to blame something if I was fired but the truth of the matter is, you need to be prepared for situations like this.

It astonishes me to see people complain about income adjustments after raking in 7 figures in the lending industry. These are the people who preyed on borrowers and caused this mess in the first place. Now I’m supposed to feel bad because you’re *only* earning 85K per year?

The economy is clearly in recovery, whether or not people are willing to accept it.

All that said, I don’t think that I am cheerleading for the economy. I am simply trying to point out that A. there are signs of recovery on the horizon even though it may take awhile for a rebound to begin and that B. this current economic period is not a sign of an impending depression. I am just trying to put things in context because I think many of my colleagues in the media as well as politicians are doing their best to try and scare people and foster a sense of panic.

I have never claimed in any of my columns that the economy is now in robust shape. I’ve gone out of my way to say that many consumers are struggling. And earlier this year, I was urging the Fed in many columns to take steps to help strengthen the dollar so that oil and food prices might ease. Inflation has been a problem for everyone.

So please don’t misinterpret my hopeful optimism for blissful ignorance and denial. I understand that many people are having a rough time in this economy.

Finally, as for my job. I actually write a daily, not weekly, column for CNN and I am an editor for the site. So trust me, I am keeping fairly busy at work.

Again, I do wish you (and all of my readers who are facing some economic difficulties right now) the best of luck and hope that this economic malaise does not wind up lingering for that much longer.

Take care.

PRL

Let the recessions clear out the rubbish companies. The stronger will survive to drive the recovery.

With all due respect, frankly I think you have the easiest job in the world. I have no idea what your salary is, but I am guessing that CNN is paying you a pretty decent amount for your to act as a cheerleader for the US economy. You frankly have the easiest job in the world because all you have to do is write a weekly column that essentially comes down to this: ra, ra, ra! Gimme a G-R-E-A-T! What’s that spell? GREAT! The economy is doing great!

Maybe that was not the message you are trying to convey, but you frankly do not understand the reality of millions of Americans who are struggling at the moment. People out there are struggling to pay their bills, struggling because their homes are about to be foreclosed, or struggling because they were laid off and cannot find jobs.

I was laid off in May. I am not only a college graduate; I have two Master’s degrees. And I have not been able to find employment. Even if the companies have stopped the mass layoffs — which the recent number of newly filed unemployment claims seem to indicate — nobody is hiring. Companies are tightening their belts and trying to squeeze as much productivity as they can from their workers. Those very workers are working harder for the same amount of money or even less out of fear that they might be laid off. Because of this, companies can get more for less from their employees and they don’t think it’s necessary to hire anybody else — or even if they want to, they simply cannot afford to hire anybody.

Right now, everywhere I look, it’s a hiring freeze. The labor market is very unsympathetic and unforgiving for those who have been laid off and millions of laid off and unemployed people are quietly being marginalized because many in America are beginning to buy into the government’s lies that the GDP is up and that the economy is doing well. Americans are hypnotized by the lies and misrepresentations of the government. They do not want Americans to realize the plight they are in and the plight of millions who are jobless and/or cannot even afford to pay their bills.

Mr. La Monica, I urge you to wake up and see the reality that millions of Americans are struggling because they cannot find jobs and/or cannot pay the bills. I have been unemployed since May and despite my educational credentials and experience, as well as my youth (I am in my mid-20s). However, I had to resort to my parents helping me through these hard times. But I am lucky that I still have my parents as my safety net. What about the 40 or 50 year old workers who were laid off and have families to feed and significant financial responsibilities?

What happened to the time when banks were the most conservative institutions on the planet?

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/08/durable-goods-d.html

The average American is not getting any relief from the erosion of our income due to RECESSION,INFLATION,lose of jobs to Americans….