Recently in The Way I See It Category

So we stand finished with the term's blogging. Whether this page will now fall into oblivion as many blogs do, or be revived by a new generation with different intentions remains to be seen, and there is little benefit in speculation. One thing remains certain, it's tough times for econoblogging. The news we hear from the mainstream media regarding our economic fortitude remains endlessly southward, and keeping youthful optimism and originality in relating our lives to the desperate economy proved, as notable from the staggering 9 posts here on the last day of deadline, more a chore than a creative joy. It's difficult - so difficult - to sit down and create a pithy, irreverent and bright post that could keep with our recurrent off-the-wall theme. We are a group of young adults that continually looks for the sunny, hilarious or bizarre effects of this recession, not because we think we're funny but simply as a matter of how we were raised. Maybe as a generation we're not yet willing to accept the incredible burden being placed on us, or rather we refuse to admit it in spite of it's glaring omniprecence. So we joke, hold in reverence the satirical and cynical, and wonder if that extra year or two before graduation will give us any lee-way. We are a generation raised by the likes of Jon Stewart, Jay Leno, and Conan O'Brien - even the worst news has a silver lining to help us cope, and if it doesn't we try our damndest to create one. Our parents grew up on paternal nightly news anchors and a relentless, fear inducing 30 minute broadcast for daily digestion. We do not accept that, and having grown up with "the fear" we choose not to get spooked - we've moved past shock and awe, even with the economy.  This is our gift and our curse, we simultaneously disallow panicking while remaining (perhaps dangerously) detached from the situation at hand.
I don't hear enough from people our age about the economy. Where are the other bloggers out in that blogosphere (or is it blogiverse?) our age that have relevent opinions? Because even with Lord Obama flooding money into the market on a semi-daily basis, we are, in fact, the ones that will have (and excuse the cliche) to eventually fix it. I wish I saw smart ideas for ten years down the road in our generation's blogs, as opposed to silly woeful looks at the economy as an indicator of one thing or another. This stands true for journalists of all ages: What about the economy as a problem in need of solving as opposed to a problem in need of further explication? Is it possible to say the story's been reported to death, and if so does saying that make me a failed journalist? We know the recession is here, we know people are hurting, we DO NOT NEED another story about so-and-so's mortgage going under, or what colors/designs/logos people are wearing in times of need. I'd rather read another story about the Obama dog hunt than what the stars are doing to show sympathy for the recession. Maybe I'm just frustrated.
Conversely, I should note that I do have undying faith in our generation, especially regarding an economic fix. We hear pundits such as the ever frightening Glenn Beck and just about everyone else that still uses the word whipper-snapper refer to us as the entitlement generation... this seems peculiar. Where were the 20-something hippies when election day came about in the 1960s... not in the voting both, that's for certain. We are there, in record numbers. Where was your Mark Zuckerberg or Biz Stone or even Paris Hilton for that matter? We are incredibly innovative and creative, in a world where it's all been done we can still find ways to capitolize on everything and constnatly reintroduce the wheel. I can't wait to see our generation in charge of reinvigorating the newspaper industry, assuming one still exists by the time we're editors-in-chiefs.

So maybe someone, some company, some government oversight or lack there of, has left us a tremendous problem. I think we can solve it. Crossing my fingers, it may be presumable that Gen Y never has a test of mettle on foriegn battle fields, such as the greatest generation. We may not accumulate massive wealth like the babyboomers. But we've been delivered a singular mission to reemerge from generations of compounding problems always put off for another day. That day is now ours to squander. I know I'm totally up for the challenge, economy and all. You with me?

-Mike White
2010

I recently read an article that listed the top 15 companies that may not survive the economic downturn of 2009. Many businesses that I had grown up with were on the top of the list. While household names like Circuit City and Linens N' Things have already perished, companies like Claire's, Sbarro's, Krispy Kreme, and Six Flags seem to be facing a similar future.

 

A few names on the list shocked me. Trump Entertainment Resorts Holdings, for example, has seen its stock drop 94% and is trying to sell many of its Atlantic City properties to pay down a stack of debt. The gambling industry has long been considered immune to the effects of recession - so what makes the recession of 2008 any different?

 

Other names were expected. Seeing Blockbuster on the list, for example, was not a surprise. It is hard to find a Blockbuster enthusiast in our technologically advanced world. My father has refused to shop there since he was charged $4.99 extra for dropping a movie off just twenty minutes past its due date. That was in 2004.

 

 

 

 

A lot has changed since the first Blockbuster opened in Brooklyn in 1985. People no longer use VCR's to watch movies. DVD players are replaced instead of repaired. Movies can be viewed On Demand through DVR recording systems or rented through Pay Per View channels by the click of a button. With the introduction of Netflix and $1 Red Box Rentals, it is no wonder why Blockbuster has seen its stock drop almost 60%.  Why deal with confusing late fee structures, rising rental prices, and complicated rewards programs when you can view a new release instantly from your computer?

 

But I have grown up with Blockbuster as a staple -- despite my father's aversion to it - and it is hard to imagine a world without one in every major shopping plaza. I know that I am young. I can imagine that dozens of firms will come and go within my lifetime. But the rising number of bankruptcies and the changing nature of America's industries is unnerving for a soon-to-be college graduate. With consumers guarding their wallets, corporate revenues are plunging. The business landscape is starting to resemble a graveyard.

 

And frankly, I am a bit afraid. 

 

Leann Gerlach

February 20, 2009

Okay. Things are looking grim, I know. But I think there's plenty of good coming out of this recession.

For one thing, it's given fashion magazines all kinds of great fodder.  A recent "Go Ask Alice" column on style.com was titled, "Recession 101." In the article, a fashion columnist points to designer Alice Temperley as a guide to learn how to 'navigate the recession with a wink and smile.' From the title, you're sure the article will give you great tips on how to look like you're wearing a $3,000 dress when really it's from the clearance rack at Banana Republic. But, no, the article is actually about really wearing a $3,000 dress. Apparently Temperley hasn't felt the recession the way readers have -- she is still planning to open a 2,500-square-foot shop in Dubai. Where, presumably, she can sell $3,000 dresses to tycoons who would look at me in my DVF knockoff dress and say, "Recession? Shesmession."

Luckily for those of us actually dealing with the recession in our J.Crew chinos and Target flats, TIME Magazine offered a spread on "Recession Chic" in March of last year. "March of last year?" you ask! Yes.  Apparently Time magazine and fashion designers alike acknowledged what the Fed so hesitantly finally admitted in Dec. 2008.

In the spread, Times columnist Kate Betts predicted the downturn of color and prints on the runways to coincide with the downturn in the economcy.  Betts quotes Amy Winehouse and says it's "Back to Black" for the fashion world as stocks stay in the red.  Betts warns that the dour black of this recession won't be nearly as heroin-grunge chic as the early 1990's, but rather a much more sophisticated black.  Sharp lines and classic cuts will showcase the newly-discovered practical side of fashionistas.

The recession isn't just giving great fodder to heady institutions like Vogue and Time though.  Chick-lit age bloggers are getting great stuff out of the dour times, too.  It seems that most blogspots have blogs titled "The Recessionista," or some similar witty take on the phrase. What do these blogs have to offer? A variety of things ranging from five-star-restaurant-quality recipes you can make at home to listings of stores with great deals.  Some of them are no-nonsenes guides to more-frugal living, and other are wildly humorous tales of the horrors of shopping during a recession: everything's black! everything's last season! everything is too expensive for me now that my I-Banker boyfriend is jobless!

So, alright, if the economy picks up around the second quarter of this year, I guess I'll go with it. But until then, or if then, I'll keep frequenting my new favorite blogs. I'll proudly don my sophisticated black dress for lower-key cocktail parties, and I'll wear my off-the-rack washable knit pants to class with my head held high. For I can feel confident, with the support of bloggers worldwide, that I'm not deigning to wear off-the-rack clothes, but rather I'm just letting out my inner recessionista.  

 

-Alicia Budich, '11