National Spending Journal – By Shoeboxed

“Recession” seems to have become the new “Y2K.” In other words, it is the popular catch phrase on everyone’s lips this year as they foretell the catastrophic decline of our society as we know it. All those doom-and-gloomers back in 1999 found that the Y2K problem turned out just fine, and I am optimistic that [...]

No. We aren’t.
 
There’s my two cents, but for the sake of making this post more interesting, let me elaborate.
 
In BusinessWeek’s Small Biz blog on July 1, John Tozzi explored whether entrepreneurship is on the decline using Scott Shane’s data from the New York Times that it is declining, and Steve King’s data from Small Business [...]

Apparently, the recession hurts less at Walmart. A recent survey of American consumers had some interesting results: people are a lot less interested in shopping than they have been in decades and are turning to discount retailers like Walmart to ease their financial pain.
“This is the first time in 30 years of consumer surveys that [...]

All or part of unemployment benefits received in 2009 will be tax free for many unemployed workers, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
“This morning we learned that a record 5.6 million people were receiving unemployment benefits in the middle of March. This underscores the need for the relief provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment [...]

The state of Kansas announced today that it may not be able to pay its employees on time, and has suspended income tax refunds, reflecting the poor economic conditions facing most of the nation. State governments have been hit hard by the recession, and several are considering plans for payroll cuts and other budgetary reductions.
The [...]

Did you get your W-2? These documents are essential to filling out most individual tax returns. You should receive a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, from each of your employers each year. Employers have until February 2, 2009 to provide or send you a 2008 W-2 earnings statement either electronically or in paper form. [...]

What if I lose my job?  Is my unemployment check taxable? Can I afford to take money out of my retirement account? These are just a few of the “What If” questions people are dealing with these days.
The IRS recognizes that many people are going through difficult times financially.  Often, there is a tax impact [...]

Consumer spending fell in December, making it a six-month slid officially. Experts expect that consumer spending will continue to remain weak this year as people worry about layoffs and pay cuts. Since consumer spending is so important to a healthy economy, this will almost certainly prolong the ongoing recession.
The Commerce Department release official data that [...]

Despite the worst economic climate in decades, welfare aid is not growing as one might expect.
Even though the number of people seeking unemployment benefits continues to rise, the number of people receiving cash assistance via a government welfare program was the lowest in more than 40 years.
From the NYT:
Michigan cut its welfare rolls 13 percent, [...]

Perhaps the long awaited announcement that was supposed to come out on January 16, the United States Postal Service finally announced a major potential change to its operations yesterday: no Tuesday delivery.

Massive deficits and declining mail circulation could force the USPS to cut delivery, John Potter, the postmaster general told Congress. Though many would first [...]

Target has announced that it will cut 9% of its headquarters staff and close a Arkansas distribution center,  which includes 600 employees and 400 open positions, according to a statement issued by the company. These changes will be effective immediately.
Target will also close a distribution center in Arkansas, which employes another 500 people, later in [...]

In the news today are several large companies announcing large layoffs, including Caterpillar, ING Group, Sprint Nextel, Pfizer, Home Depot, Deere, Philips and Corus. Total job cuts announced today total approximately 61,000 jobs.
Caterpillar, the construction giant will be cutting 20,000 jobs. These job losses are in line with a 25% decline in sales volume.
ING Group, [...]

As President Barack Obama seeks to get Congressional approval for an economic stimulus package by mid February, it is interesting to look at where the proposed stimulus would create jobs. The Wall Street Journal has released information about where jobs would be created, as released in a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The [...]

John Thain, the former CEO of Merrill Lynch has resigned from his post at Bank of America, which overtook Merrill just three weeks ago, among allegations of extravagant personal expenses charged to the company.
It was recently reported that Thain spent at least $1.22 million to redecorate his office in 2008, while Merril Lynch was reeling [...]

Carlos Slim, one of the richest men in the world, will be investing $250 million dollars in the New York Times.
The Mexican billionaire is reportedly in discussions with the paper about the terms of a potential investment, The Wall Street Journal reports.
New York Times Co. reached a deal with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim to raise [...]