Recession Measures – Updated

This post is the latest update to a series of blog posts seen on the CalculatedRisk.com blog.  The original blog post of April 12, 2010, is titled “Recession Measures.” In it, Bill discussed key measures that the NBER uses to determine recoveries, and posted four charts. Here are those charts, updated in his October 30, 2011 post titled …

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October 19 Gallup Poll On Americans’ Personal Finances – Notable Excerpts

On October 19, Gallup released poll results titled “Americans Grow More Negative About Their Personal Finances.” I find this poll interesting for a variety of reasons; perhaps chief among them is as another indication of growing financial strain among households.  A few excerpts of note: Nearly one in four U.S. adults (22%) now rate their personal …

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Our Current Economic “Man-Made Problems”

On September 8, President Obama gave the Address by the President to a Joint Session of Congress.  It concerned the economy and the American Jobs Act.  (I highlighted what I believed to be the most notable excerpts in a September 9 blog post titled “President Obama’s Address of September 8 2011“) In the Address, President …

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Hunger In The Chicago Area

Yesterday CBSChicago.com had a story titled “Study Finds 1 in 5 Chicagoans Are Hungry.” Although the entire article is worthwhile, I find the following excerpts to be most notable (and disconcerting): The Greater Chicago Food Depository has, for the first time, done a neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown of hunger in the Chicago area. As WBBM’s Mike Krauser …

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Food Stamps As Of September 2011

This post is an update to previous posts concerning food stamps.  The program is officially called “Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” or SNAP.  As stated on the SNAP website, “As of Oct. 1, 2008, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the new name for the federal Food Stamp Program.” The data was last updated September 1, 2011, reflecting June 2011 levels. …

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Total Household Net Worth As A Percent Of GDP 2Q 2011

The following chart is from the CalculatedRisk blog post of September 16, 2011 titled “Q2 Flow of Funds:  Household Real Estate assets off $6.6 trillion from peak.” It depicts Total Household Net Worth as a Percent of GDP.  The underlying data is from The Federal Reserve Flow of Funds 2Q 2011 report: (click on chart to enlarge image) …

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