Recession

The housing market's continuing struggles have upset the retirement plans of millions of Americans, keeping more of them in their current homes, waiting for diminished equity to reappear. Others plan to move, but they appear to be demanding something much different from what they wanted before the real estate boom turned to bust: smaller, less expensive retirement houses they can afford with their reduced means. At the start of the financial crisis in the fall of 2008, economists weren't anticipating that the long-term trend toward retirement living would be derailed.

AS THE recession wreaks havoc on government budgets at all levels, public officials are being asked to do more with less. In Philadelphia, no department has met that challenge better than the Streets Department. Almost 30 years ago, the department had more than 3,200 full-time employees to clean and repair streets and bridges and collect our trash. Today, it has 1,800, a whopping 44 percent less - 7 percent in the last three years. A decade ago, its budget was $256 million, adjusted for inflation.

WHERE IS the recession the Democrats are so loudly complaining about? Some pertinent facts: 1. It is next to impossible to get a room in Atlantic City for any weekend. 2. Ninety percent of the summer rentals at the shore have been taken. 3. Tickets to concerts, theaters and sporting events are at a premium. At restaurants, the lines are out the door. 4. The steel mills are booming, the casinos are packed, homes and cars are selling like there's no tomorrow. 5. A Bucks County friend sold 60 building lots ($200-400,000)

Hard times settle softly on country-club life in the Philadelphia suburbs. The economic downturns that have battered real estate, financial institutions, retailing and the automobile industry seem barely to have grazed the tip of the green putting grass that dots the area's clubs. "Country clubs are about as recession-proof as you can get," said Bob Dunkel, the publisher of Philadelphia Golf magazine, which circulates in 12 counties around Philadelphia. In the 1970s, country clubs survived two recessions, as well as a backlash from rebellious youths who scorned the club lifestyle as a symbol of bourgeois decadence, some club managers said.

You knew it was a recession. We knew it was a recession. All those people who were thrown out of work knew it was a recession. Now even economists agree it's a recession. The National Bureau of Economic Research, a private group whose economists officially decree when U.S. recessions begin and end, yesterday announced that the U.S. economy was in a recession and that it began in July. That means the downturn started even before Iraq invaded Kuwait, sending oil prices skyrocketing.

The panel of academics responsible for deciding when United States recessions begin and end said Monday it's too soon to declare the current slump over. The National Bureau of Economic Research said that although most barometers show improvements in the economy, it would be "premature" to pinpoint the end of a recession based on economic data seen so far. "Many indicators are quite preliminary at this time and will be revised in coming months," the bureau's Business Cycle Dating Committee said.

The government's chief barometer of future economic activity fell in October for the fourth straight month, the Commerce Department reported yesterday, offering further evidence that a recession has started. The department said its Index of Leading Economic Indicators fell 1.2 percent in October. Three consecutive declines in the index have been viewed as a fairly reliable, but not infallible, sign that a recession is approaching. President Bush, speaking at a news conference yesterday, attributed at least part of the economic weakness to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August and the subsequent rise in world oil prices.

No matter how often I see it, I am always amazed to view the success that results when people unite and work toward a common goal. Some of the most insurmountable obstacles in mankind's history have been overcome when people put aside racial, economic, and social differences and work together to overcome a problem that affects them all. One of the biggest problems of the '90s has been the recession, and all of us are affected by it, directly...

The wait-and-see economics of President Bush has taken a heavy toll. The drop in November's employment sharply raises the odds that the recession isn't ending. In a time of high debt, the biggest dangers lie ahead. But the president persists. The other day, inching closer to the facts, he called the economy's performance "unacceptable," but offered no new proposals for growth. He plans to wait until next month. Don't blame the White House alone for not taking strong action.

The economy stinks and it's not getting any better. President Bush, I'm sorry to say, is to blame. Two years ago it was possible for those of us who had supported him in 1988 to blame the Democratic Congress for inviting stagnation by opposing the president's tax proposals. A year ago, as the recession became reality, blame still could be divided between the White House and Congress as they cut a deal to raise taxes. Today the whole mess can only be laid squarely in the Oval Office.

BRUSSELS - The European Union says that a recession brought on by a crippling debt crisis could give way to a modest recovery later this year - provided governments persevere on the tough austerity track. It suggested that more growth-enhancing measures can be pursued alongside strict budgetary controls, but only as long as they do not detract from acheiving deficit reduction targets. In its half-yearly economic projections, the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, said Friday that the economy of the 17 countries that use the euro will shrink by 0.3 percent this year.

If the campaign rhetoric that has dominated the Republican primaries is any indication, Americans can expect the fall presidential campaign to focus on the economic condition of the country. If you believe recovery from the recession is real, you might be more inclined to favor the incumbent. If not, you may vote for change. That's a good debate to have, but it's a difficult one because most people will want to use their personal brush to paint the nation's picture, even though their own circumstances may not be generally applicable.

THE NATION'S prolonged economic downturn appears to have claimed another victim: expansion of suburbs at the edges of metropolitan areas. For the first time in almost two decades, data released by the Census Bureau show, the annual growth rate of cities and adjacent communities have surpassed metropolitan fringe areas. Since 2010, the data show, cities and older "ring" suburbs have posted an annual 0.8 percent increase in growth compared to 0.4 percent for exurbs. For Philadelphia, growth since the 2010 census has translated to a population increase of 10,465, mainly the result of an increase in births.

Question: How do you know when a relationship is right for the long term? Is it when you stop asking the question? Or when you fall into a stable pattern? I've been in a relationship for nearly three years and find myself struggling to determine the criteria by which to judge. Answer: I think it's when you really like the version of you that the relationship brings out, and when it's a version that's easy for you to maintain. And when you're no less happy to see the person walk into the room than you were at the beginning.

The recent release of the 2006 minutes of the Federal Reserve Board - after the standard five-year lag - led many to wonder how the nation's chief financial stewards could have missed signs of the coming Great Recession. An examination of minutes over the last 30 years reveals that they failed to anticipate other downturns as well. Ever since the appointment of Paul Volcker as chairman in 1979, the Fed has judged inflation to be the major economic threat facing the nation, downplaying the dangers of unemployment and recession.

The recession has been good for the NFL, according to commissioner Roger Goodell, who said it has helped build TV audiences for games. Speaking on an episode of CBS's 60 Minutes to be aired Sunday, Goodell said nearly 60 million people tuned in to watch Sunday's conference championships because of the lingering recession and high unemployment. "People want to feel part of a group, feel like they're connected, and right now during these difficult times, they can turn on free television and watch the greatest entertainment that's out there," Goodell said.

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department is publicly rebutting Republican criticism of the legality of President Obama's recess appointments of a national consumer watchdog and other officials. The department released a 23-page legal opinion Thursday summarizing the advice it gave the White House before the Jan. 4 appointments. GOP leaders have argued that the Senate was not technically in recess when Obama acted, so the regular Senate confirmation process should have been followed. Assistant Attorney General Virginia Seitz wrote that the president had authority to make such appointments because the Senate was on a 20-day recess, even though it had held periodic pro forma sessions in which no business was conducted.

How dare Republican senators criticize several critical recess appointments made recently by President Obama as being unconstitutional? Where was their outrage when, for example, President George W. Bush ignored similar objections by Senate Democrats in 2005 and appointed firebrand conservative John R. Bolton ambassador to the United Nations. Presidents of both party persuasions have been making recess appointments for centuries. The practice dates back to George Washington.

Our federal debt has now topped $15 trillion, a record 57 percent of households characterize current economic policy as "poor," and only 7 percent say it is "good. " In fact, there is really very little in the way of positives as people and businesses peer into the future. Confidence in the Federal Reserve has plummeted - by 60 percent, according to the University of Michigan consumer-sentiment survey. Consumers are clearly concerned about the future, afraid that we will fall back into recession.

The Federal Reserve banks in Philadelphia and San Francisco released discouraging economic-research results Monday. Forty-five professional economic forecasters surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia predicted slower growth and higher unemployment next year and in 2013 than they predicted in August. A publication by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco said the economic uncertainty spurred by the European debt crisis had increased the odds to more than 50 percent that the United States would fall into recession early next year.